Chocolate Cake
by Samantha-kun
Summary: I woke up thinking it would be a day like any other. Man,did I have it coming. Story is better then the summary [DallyxOC] Dal and Johnny are alive. Don't own it. R&R. Story better then summary
1. Chapter 1

The moment I walked into my house I was met by an explosion of noise. Nothing unusual, so I walked into the kitchen for a Pepsi.

"I can't believe you Dally,"

"It's not my fault she was just there!"

"Hey quiet! I'm trying to watch some T.V!"

I, Ponyboy Curtis, walked into the living room to see what all the noise was about. On the couch sat Dallas Wilson, JD, hood, troublemaker to the bone. He was beat up something good and had a pretty big shiner. Lying on the couch next to him was a girl who was beat up almost as bad as Dally.

"Cripes Dally, what'd you do?" I asked, sitting down next to Two-Bit on the floor.

Dally gave me one of those looks and sighed, lighting a cigarette, "I found her in an alleyway getting the shit beaten out of her. Of course I wouldn't stand for that, so I got to beat up a few good for nothin' Socs."

Soda, my older brother, walked in the door, looking like a Greek god come to Earth. "Dally, who's that?" He asked, walking into the kitchen and bringing out the chocolate cake that was always in the freezer.

"Do I need to tell every person under the sun?" He yelled, jumping up but wincing from the pain of a few bruised ribs.

"Apparently," said Steve, eating the cake that Soda brought out.

"So, where's she gonna stay?" I asked, pulling out my math homework and sitting down on the floor.

"Whatcha doin' that for?" Asked Two-Bit, pulling the homework from under my arm.

"Darry says if I don't do it they'll throw me in some boys home." I replied, taking my homework back from out wise cracking friend. Two-Bit shrugged and walked into the kitchen to get a beer.

"Seriously, where's she gonna stay?" I asked, reaching over Steve for some of the cake.

Dally shook his head with a frown, "She aint gonna be at my place, my old man'll think she's my girl and she's pregnant or something. Hey Soda, I'll be hangin' here for a while okay?"

Soda shrugged and began trying to arm wrestle Johnny, who proceeded to beat him three to zero.

Dally winced and began blowing smoke rings that floated up into the ceiling. I wondered how that girl managed to sleep through all this noise. I motioned for Soda to follow me into the kitchen as Steve and Dally began to argue.

"Hey Soda, is she really gonna' stay here?"

Soda shrugged, "If Darry won't kill us then yes."

Two-Bit walked in, followed by Johnny. "Hey who wants to take bets about the girl?"

"Five bucks says she hates him."

"Five bucks says they hate each other."

"Five bucks says they fall in love," said Johnny in that quiet voice of his.

"Fall in love?" I said skeptically, "Come on Johnnycake, you don't actually believe in that stuff do you?" Johnny simply shrugged,

"If you think they won't, who'll take it?"

There was an instant uproar in which everyone bet against Johnny. He simply shrugged and insisted that they would fall in love eventually.

I laughed and walked into the living room to find Dally asleep, the girl leaning against him. Things had begun to quiet down for the day, Steve and Two-Bit left to go hang out at the diner, leaving me, Soda, Dally and the beat up girl. We were just sitting down to dinner, fried chicken and potatoes, when a burst of noise sent us running to the living room. Dally and the girl had woken up, and they were both moaning from their injuries and yelling at the same time.

"If I hadn't saved your sorry ass…."

"My _sorry ass_ didn't need saving!" Yelled the girl, trying to stand up but falling into Dally.

"You see, you can't even stand! Now tell me you didn't need saving," he retorted, helping her up.

"QUIET!" Yelled my eldest brother Darrell Curtis, aka Darry. He had just walked in the door, and immediately walked over to Soda and began questioning him. "Why is there a girl in our house?"

Soda launched into the story, aided occasionally by me and Dally. "So," said Darry, sitting down on one of the chairs. "You two are gonna stay here until…"

"Until she's better," said Dally, sitting down on the couch with a groan.

"Excuse me, but I never asked for charity!" She yelled, giving us a fierce look. For the first time, I got a good look at her. She had tanned skin, and her hair was shoulder length dirty blonde. Her face looked familiar, all except the eyes. They were blue, like two chips of ice. They had the same look in them as Dally's, as if they wanted to forget all they had seen. I was brought out of my thinking by a sharp smack on the head dealt by Dally.

"Didn't your brother ever teach you not to stare?" He said, walking into the kitchen, "Oh great…food. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

Darry and Soda followed him into the kitchen and began eating. I stood there with the girl. "Oh, uh, do you want something to eat?" I asked, feeling like a total fool.

She nodded and followed me into the kitchen where my brothers and Dally were already pigging out on the chicken. I passed the girl a plate and sat down in between Dally and Sodapop.

"So girlie, what's your name, asked Dally, trying to put his arm around her.

"Tera. And don't call me 'girlie'." She removed his arm from around her shoulders and began wolfing down the chicken.

"So _Tera _why were you in the alleyway gettin' the tar beaten outta ya?"

She gave Dally a cold look, "I ticked off the rich kids, the Socs or whatever they're called."

Darry whistled through his teeth, "I hate people who beat on girls. It's just wrong."

"What'd they look like?" Asked Soda, getting excited.

Tera shrugged, "I don't know. One guy had a ton of rings on his fingers and they all showed up in this one car…a blue..."

"Mustang," I breathed, looking nervously at Dally. "Dally; it's the same guys who jumped Johnny!"

"Wait, is Johnny the guy with the beat up face?" Asked Tera, helping herself to more of our food.

"Ya, the Socs jumped him," said Dally hollowly. Johnny was the gang's pet, everyone's brother. If Dally ever loved anything other then himself, it was Johnny.

"Well," said Soda, standing up. "I'm gonna shower." He hurriedly dumped his dishes in the sink and ran towards the bathroom.

I looked over at Tera and Dally who were arguing. I sighed, it looked like Johnny was going to lose a lot of money on the bet.

"Hey Pony, you've got homework," said Darry, grabbing his plate and dumping it into the sink.

"Fine," I said grumpily, putting my plate in the sink.

"Hey Dall, Tera, can you guys get the dishes?" Asked Darry, sitting down with the newspaper.

"Fine," said Dally, grabbing his plate and dropping it into the sink. "Dishes are done." He walked into the living room and sat down for a smoke. Tera followed me and sat down on the floor, looking at all the bruises on her arms.

"Hey Darry, can you help me with my homework?" I asked, walking over to him and showing him the algebra I was struggling with.

"Sure little buddy," he proceeded to show me not only how to do the problems, but how to do them quickly.

After that we sat down in front of the T.V. Nothing eventful happened until Soda walked out if the shower in only a towel. When he saw Tera he jumped a mile high. "Cripes, I forgot there was a girl here."

We laughed and ate some chocolate cake, and then Darry yelled over the din of Steve and Two-Bit fighting that it was time for bed.

I walked to my room in a daze and sank down onto my soft mattress. A few minutes later Soda came and laid down next to me, tossing an arm over my shoulder. "Soda?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you miss Sandy?"

"Yea."

"Do you think you'll ever love anyone else?"

"Yea…" With that he fell asleep. I sat there thinking, and stood up, trying not to disturb Soda. I walked out into the living room. Sprawled on the couch was Dally, arm around Tera. I wondered if he knew he was sleeping like that. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a plateful of chocolate cake, wondering if it tasted the same everywhere…


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up late the next day. My first thought was 'Darry must've gone to work already'. My second thought was 'What time was it?' My third move that morning was to grab my clock in shock and fall out of bed. It was eleven o'clock, meaning that school had already started. I grabbed a pair of clean jeans out of the closet and pulled them on over my boxers.

I ran out into the living room where Dally was sitting on the floor drinking a Pepsi and Tera was sleeping on the couch. "Hey kid," said Dally with a smile.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up!" I yelled as I searched the living room for a tee shirt.

"We figured you didn't _want _to go to school," said Dally finishing the Pepsi and lighting a cigarette. "That's why we let you sleep."

I found a tee shirt under a stack of newspapers and pulled it on, "Dally, I've got a HUGE test today! Now how am I gonna pass ninth grade huh?" I pulled on my old Converse and looked around the room for the math homework I'd done last night.

"Hey," said Tera groggily, sitting up and sliding Dally's jacket off of her. "What's all the noise for?"

"Pony here _wants _to go to school," said Dally with a chuckle. Tera smiled and passed Dally his jacket.

I groaned and began frantically looking for my homework; Darry would kill me if I didn't show up at school! I finally found it under an empty plate with chocolate bits on it. Then a horrible thought occurred to me, and I turned to talk to Dally and Tera.

"Dally, we're not allowed to turn up at school late. The people in the office know me by now, and I'll get busted for sure unless I climb in a window or something."

Dally gave me one of his looks that said he was planning something. "So, the people in the office know you do they? Then we'll just have to make sure they don't see you won't we?" He stood up; putting on his jacket over the dirty white tee shirt he was wearing.

"What are you planning?" I asked, throwing my homework in my bag.

Dally gave me a smile, "Ponyboy, if I told you how we was gonna break _into _the school it would ruin all the fun wouldn't it?" I gulped thinking this might end up like the time Two-Bit was late to school and got busted for breaking in. Tera stood up, wincing from the pain of a few bruised ribs.

"I'm comin'," she said, pulling on her shoes that were at the end of the couch. "I don't care what you have to say Dallas Wilson, but I don't plan on spending two weeks or who knows how long hiding out in this house." She walked up to him and looked him in the eye, and I was struck by both of their eyes. They were both blue, and both harbored the same look of hatred towards the world. I thought Dally would explode, nobody talked to Dallas Wilson like that. But Dally just shrugged and took another drag on his cigarette.

"Whatever. I'm not tellin' you what to do." He opened the door and held it as we walked out. By now my mind was racing trying to find out what Dallas had planned to get me into school in time to take a test that my entire grade depended on. Dally led us to Buck's house. Buck was a party man, and Soda and Darry had promised to pound me into the ground if I ever came within thirty feet of his house. I was fine with that, seeing as how Buck hated kids my age. 'Young vandals' he called us.

Dally opened up the garage and hotwired Buck's Mustang quicker then you can blink. He drove it out of the garage with a grin on his face and honked the horn, making me jump. "Dally, hasn't it occurred to you that Buck might actually be in his house?"

"Sure Pony, but he's probably sleeping off a hangover," he said as Tera jumped into the shotgun seat. I groaned, but got into the backseat. In a few seconds we were speeding down the road, and I could actually smell the rubber tires burning. Dallas drives like a madman, ignoring the laws of the road. Within seconds we were a few blocks away from the school. Dally stopped the car and parked in the parking lot of a Denny's.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do..." Dallas lit a cigarette and took a drag from it. "Pony, me and Tera are gonna go up to the office and…'distract' them. While we're talkin' to them you're gonna run past and get to your test."

"And how are we gonna distract them?" Asked Tera, taking Dally's cigarette out of his mouth and taking a deep drag from it.

Dally smiled and took back his cigarette, "Be glad you're Sodapop's kid brother, otherwise I wouldn't be doin' this for you." He jumped out of the car and ground his cigarette out on the pavement.

Tera and I followed him towards the school. We passed the DX Station where Soda and Steve worked and Dally waved at Steve who was obviously was cutting school today. I groaned and hoped Soda wouldn't come out to see me sneaking _into _school. Darry would be so incredibly mad, he would ground me forever. I could already hear his voice in my head.

'_What were you thinking! You have to go to school; otherwise you'll get put in some boys home! Sneaking into school, what were you thinking Ponyboy!'_

"Hey, Ponyboy, you okay?" Asked Tera, stopping and waving her hand in front of my face, "You don't look so hot."

"He's fine," said Dally, looking both ways as we came upon the school. "Okay kid, you know the plan. Just trust me, it'll work."

Dally and Tera walked into the school, and I followed them at a distance. I wondered if Dallas dropped out, and if he went to this school too.

"Hey," said Dally. I could hear his breathing and I wondered if this would ever work.

"Excuse me _sir_ can I help you?" I saw Dally stiffen and I saw Tera cast a look in my direction.

"Yea, our kid is here and we're goin' on vacation."

I saw Tera hold in a laugh, but she went along with it. "Yes, Jacob Wilson. We're going out of town and we're checking him out." She tried to look like more of a Soc, but I doubted that the secretary believed her. I could see them through the secretary's eyes. They were JDs, hoods, greasers, troublemakers. Surprisingly the secretary nodded and buzzed over the intercom.

Dally nodded at me and I ran, hunched over into my math class. As I opened the door I heard the secretary trying to talk to Dallas.

"_Sir _there isn't a child at this school by that name," she said, but I shut the door and walked into class. I'm not going to bore you with how long and pointless my day was, so I'll cut to the part where I left my last hour.

* * *

I walked out from the cool air conditioned school into the harshness of the real world. As usual a couple of Socs screamed at me from out the window of their car.

"Hey greaser, don't walk away when I'm talkin' to you!" Yelled one of them, slowing down the car they were in.

"Boys I think the greaser needs a bath, why don't we give him a bath boys?"

I could tell they were up to trouble, so I ran as fast as I could to the DX where Sodapop worked. I can run pretty fast if I want to, I'm in track. But these guys had state of the art cars, and they caught me just as I ran into the air conditioned gas station. Dally and Tera were standing there talking to Soda.

"Hey Pony, what up," said Soda, noticing how out of breath I was.

"Soc," I panted, clutching the handrail.

"This aint their turf," said Dally, pulling out his switchblade.

"They hurt you Ponyboy?" Asked Tera, looking out the window with a steely glint in her eye.

I shook my head, still winded. "If they're gonna keep doin' this I'm gonna have to quit smoking," I said, shaking my head.

Soda grinned like the maniac he is and Dally walked over to Tera. "Look," she said, inclining her head. The blue Mustang was cruising around the DX, as if waiting for one of us to come out.

"Damn Socs," said Dally with an angry look outside. "I'm in half a mind to go show them who's turf this _really _is. Just cuz their dads own half the city, makes them think their better then us, the no good sons of a…" Dally then proceeded to call the Socs every single foul word he knew.

"Nice vocabulary Dally," I said, holding back a laugh.

"Well I for one don't plan to let any no good preppy boys keep me from leaving," said Tera, and she walked out the door, her eyes blazing with hatred for the Socs.

"Girl's gonna get herself killed," said Dally, and followed her, switchblade at the ready.

"Let's make sure they don't kill each other," said Soda, and I followed him outside.

The Socs were sitting in their car, yelling curses at us, telling us where we should go, and what we should do to ourselves. "Hey girlie," yelled one of them, walking up to Tera. "Why are you hangin' with this trash baby, come hang with us." Tera turned around to face the Soc.

"I wouldn't hang with you if I was at gunpoint. I'd rather die then shame myself with a Soc." She sat in his face and turned around to stand next to Dallas, "These people are better then you can ever hop to be, even if your daddy owns half the city."

The Soc looked angrily at her and pulled out a switchblade, "You lookin for trouble?"

Tera walked up to him, so close they were almost touching, but we heard every word she said. "Go ahead, knife me. I'd like to see you try it again. There's a whole bunch of people who'll say that you started it. You'd be in the cooler before you could bat your eye."

The Soc looked stunned that a girl, much less a greaser, would talk to him that way, "Why you little shit," he said letting his switchblade catch the light. "I'm in half a mind to cut you in half."

"You've go the half a mind thing right," said Tera, giving him a look of hatred unrivaled by none.

Soda and I jumped down the stairs to stand next to Dally, pulling out our blades. "That's enough," said Soda, walking over to Tera and the Soc. "I don't want any blood Tera. If you kill this Soc I'll have to clean it up, and I _hate _cleaning."

Tera gave the Soc a look of hatred and walked over to us, standing next to Dally.

"You better watch it you greasers or you'll be in for it." The Socs hopped back into their car and began driving off, making rude hand gestures at us out the window. The second their mustang had rounded the corner Dally turned to Tera and wrapped her in a bear hug.

"You dig okay," he said, letting her go. I smiled and looked over at Soda, who was putting his blade back in his pocket.

"Hey, nobody tells Darry about this," he said, walking back inside. "He'll flip and throw us _all _out." He gave us one of his signature grins and shut the door behind him.

I put my blade away and looked over as Johnny walked towards us. "Hey, what were those Socs doin' around here, this aint their turf," he said with a nervous look around.

Dally looked at the corner that the upper class rich kids had disappeared. "Well Johnnycake, you're in luck. Tera here just drove 'em off." He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

"Man Tera, don't do that," he said, blowing a smoke ring. "Incredible bluffing by the way," Dallas began walking towards our house, right next to Tera. I followed with Johnny, bringing him up to speed on the events that had occurred during the day. We were about one block from our house when it happened.

The Soc's mustang pulled up right beside us, and the Socs Tera had insulted jumped out. "Hey greasers!" He yelled, pulling out his blade, "Let's go."

Within seconds Dally and Tera had blades out and Tera was on top of the Soc, screaming at him and attempting to cut off his nose. Dally was throwing punches left and right, and Johnny and I had three Socs closing in on us. We pulled out our blades and fought them off pretty easy, because I'm a pretty good fighter. We ran over to help Dally, only to find him beating off the Soc that was in charge, yes the Soc that Tera wanted nose-less. His nose was bleeding and his eye was black. As he jumped into the car he yelled out the window, "Just watch your greasy backs you greasers!"

Tera stood up from where she had fallen, holding her nose which had begun to bleed. Dallas's eye was black, and Johnny was shaking pretty bad. I was okay, just a few cuts here and there. Dally began cussing out the Socs as we walked to our house. "I'm proud of you," he said to all of us as we entered the house. "You kept your head, unlike those idiots in Tim Shepard's outfit."

Johnny sank into an armchair, and Tera sat down next to Dally on the couch. I went into the kitchen, only to find Darry sitting at the table, an angry look on his face.

"Hey Pony, can you grab me some ice for my eye?" Yelled Dally from the living room.

I gulped and grabbed some ice for him, tossing it into the living room. "Hi Darry," I said, trying to stay calm. Maybe he didn't know about the Socs jumping us, or me oversleeping and sneaking into school. He said nothing but walked into the living room and sat down at the armchair across from Johnny.

"So Dally, how'd you get that black eye?" He asked, his eyes blazing with anger.

"What eye?" He tried unsuccessfully to look innocent.

"And Tera, how'd you get that nosebleed?"

"I saw Dally in the shower," she said, hoping the bluff would work.

"Funny, his hair isn't wet."

I gulped, knowing that we were in for it. "Ponyboy, I got a call from the principal today. He said you were missing up until the disturbance at around eleven."

"Well Darry, nobody woke me up, and I had a test today, so Dally and Tera kida helped me…break _into _the school."

Darry looked ready to kill me, "And then I get a call from the manager of the DX station, telling me that if my kid brothers keep getting into fights that he'll have to fire Sodapop."

"That was kinda my fault," said Tera from her spot o the couch. "I um…angered a Soc. We'll leave it at that."

Darry obviously wasn't done, "And _then _I hear yelling down the street, so I stick my head out the door only to find you all getting into a fight! Ponyboy if you keep this up…" He went into his rant about 'boys' homes'. Johnny fell into a quiet doze, and Tera fell dead asleep, leaning against Dally for warmth. Dally smiled and lit another cigarette as Darry yelled at me some more.

As my luck turned out, Two-Bit and Steve walked in, "Hey Pony, good job in the fight. We heard all about it!" That sent Darry off on another rant, and this one was so bad that they actually left and Dally put out his cigarette, yawing. He wrapped his jacket around him and Tera and quickly fell asleep. I yawned, and looked outside. It was growing dark and Darry was done yelling, so I walked into my room. I barely had time to strip down into my boxers before I fell asleep.

A few hours later I heard Soda come in, and heard Darry yelling at him. I had dreams of chocolate cakes that carried knives and smoked and wore black leather jackets.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

Luckily when I woke up the next morning it was a weekend so I didn't have to break into school like I had to yesterday. Soda was still asleep, looking peaceful and handsome. I wondered how he could stand being so good looking. I walked out of our room and stopped in the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror.

I didn't look like Mom or Dad, or Sodapop. Everyone said that I looked like Soda, but I knew I didn't. Maybe we had the same hair, and the same eyes, but that was all. I didn't have Darry's build, he was tall and muscular, and I'm thin and wiry. I finally gave up looking for familiar features in my face and walked into the kitchen. On the counter was a pile of eggs on a plate and a note:

_Pony,_

_I had to work today; I made breakfast for all of you. Don't get into too much trouble today._

_Darry_

I took a plate out of the cabinet and piled eggs on it, and opened the freezer to get out the cake. I could tell that Soda made it, because it had way too much icing. I like Darry's cakes better; he always seems to get them just right. I cut myself a slice and put it on top of my eggs. I took the plate into the living room to see if anyone was awake yet.

Johnny had stayed here for the night, and he was sleeping in the armchair. Tera was asleep against Dally. Dally was sitting up smoking a cigarette. When I walked in he put a finger to his lips and gave me a nod. "Well Dallas you look comfortable," I said with a grin.

"Quiet Ponyboy, otherwise I'll beat the tar outta ya," he said, flicking his cigarette butt at me.

I didn't doubt that, so I kept quiet while I ate my breakfast. Soda came in, clad only in his boxer shorts. He jumped a mile in the air when he saw Dally and Tera and began laughing like a drunk. Johnny woke up with a start, and was overcome by silent laughter at the sight of Dally and Tera. Tera woke up from all the noise, looking around the room.

"Hey, what's so funny?" She asked Soda, "Seriously and why are you in your boxers?"

Soda looked down and blushed, but still talked answered her question, "Umm, you and Dally…" He began talking but broke out into a fit of laughter and walked into our room still laughing.

Tera looked behind her, then realized that she and Dally had been sleeping in _very _close quarters. Dally smiled, and winked at her, and all of us knew that he had been enjoying himself. She immediately blushed and stood up, handing Dally back his jacket.

"You enjoyed this too much," she said with a small smile. Tera walked into the kitchen and got herself a slice of chocolate cake and eggs, and sat down on the couch. Dally sat up and looked over her shoulder as she ate.

Johnny smiled and walked into the kitchen for some cake, almost sure that he would be winning all our money. Tera finished her food, and Soda came out of our room fully dressed. "Hey Pony, can I take a shower?" She asked me, walking into the kitchen and putting her dishes into the sink.

I nodded, "Just hang up your towel when you're done." Tera gave me a smile and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Dally walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table across from Johnny.

"That's a pretty nice eye you've got there," said Johnny with a sympathetic smile.

"Ya," said Dally, looking at it in the mirror above the sink. "But it was worth it to see that Soc when Tera tried to cut off his nose. I bet nobody's ever spoken to _him_ like that." He smiled at his swollen eye and his cut up face.

"Hey, I'm gonna go to the movies, anyone wanna come," asked Soda, putting the cake back in the freezer. I nodded, and so did Johnny. Dally was still making faces into the mirror above the sink. There was a sudden disturbance when Tera attempted to come out of the bathroom while keeping the towel wrapped around her.

"Hey Pony, you're about my size, could I borrow a pair of jeans and a shirt?" She walked out of the bathroom, clutching the towel. I nodded and ran into my room to grab a pair of pants and a shirt. I ran back into the kitchen, almost tripping over Soda's shoes. Dally was staring at Tera, his mouth hanging open.

"Dallas Winston try and keep your eyes in your head," said Tera, hitting him upside the head. I held in a laugh and passed her the clothes. She thanked me and walked into the bathroom to change.

"You might as well pay up now," said Johnny, lighting up a cigarette.

"Pay up what?" Said Dally, coming out of a semi stupor, and taking a sip of the Pepsi I had gotten out of the fridge.

"Oh we had a bet going on about…" I broke off, looking at Johnny for help in telling Dally.

"How slow can you be," asked Soda, pacing around the tiny kitchen. Tera stepped out of the bathroom as if an answer to Soda's comment.

"Let's go," she said, leading us out the door of our house. The movie house was a block away, so we walked, talking and laughing.

Dally hates to do anything the legal way, so we walked in through the exit. We sat in the back of the theatre, and Soda began throwing popcorn at the people in the row in front of us. Dally and Tera began talking loudly about the stupidity of the movie, and Johnny lit up a cigarette. This is why I usually never see movies with other people; it's just awkward, like when someone reads over your shoulder.

After fifteen minutes the movie was over, and we all walked out, Soda and Dally complaining about the movie. We walked over to the DX where Two Bit was hanging out with one of his many blondes, and Steve was working. I lit a cigarette and listened to the lull of conversation. A sudden hush in the conversation caused me to look up to see what had shut everyone up.

"I seriously think that they _like_ getting their asses kicked," said Tera, putting out her cigarette on the pavement.

I looked up to see the Soc's blue mustang driving around the DX. "Soda," I said, "Why can't they just stay on _their_ side of the city?"

Sodapop shrugged but his eyes remained fixed on the car. "Hey Pony, lets all of us get home." Said Johnny, his dark eyes looking fearful, "I can tell something is gonna go down here. I don't wanna be here when it happens."

Dally nodded and put out his cigarette, "Besides I've got a plan that'll shake up those rich snot nosed Socs. Let's go." Dallas led us home, and he looked so menacing that no Socs jumped us on our way home. I rushed into the house before anyone else, barely able to take the tension.

Dally quickly sat down at the kitchen table and gave us one of his dangerous looks. I sat down, Johnny next to me, Tera next to him and Soda bouncing around. Dally gave me a half smile.

"So boys, ever been to the other side of town?"

I gagged on the Pepsi I was drinking, and Soda stopped bouncing around.

"Call everyone. We're going over there so the rich kids' parents know what their little angels do," Dallas leaned his chair back and lit a cigarette, "Well what're ya waitin for, a band? Go on Soda, go get Steve and Two Bit." Soda smiled and ran out the door towards the DX.

"You serious Dally?" I asked, hoping that he was leading us on.

Dally nodded and blew a perfect smoke ring, "These no good Socs need a lesson taught to them."

Johnny went pale at the thought of going over into Soc territory. "You sure this is safe Dally?"

"Safe?" Said Dally with a cold laugh, "Nothin's safe around here kid. Even _chicks_ carry heaters. No offence," he said to Tera.

"None taken," she said, "We'll need to do this when night comes around. Otherwise they'll all be out and at us before we could blink."

I leaned back in my chair, thoughts running through my head. _What id Darry found out? What if the fuzz dragged us in? _I was brought out of my 'what if' thinking by Soda coming in the door, Two-Bit and Steve following.

"Hey Dally, Soda's got some bull crap story about us going over into Soc territory," said Two-Bit with one of his signature grins.

"Ya, it's true," said Tera, her eyes becoming a cold ice blue. "We're gonna get those good for nothing Socs if it kills us."

"And it might," said Steve, hatred in his eyes.

"But still," said Soda, sitting down on the armchair, "It _would_ keep them from coming into our turf…"

"Soda you do know that if Darry finds out he'll pound our heads in," I said standing up and pacing around the kitchen.

Soda nodded, "But still Pony, think. It'll keep them out of our hair for a _long _time. No more having to travel in groups. You'll be able to walk home without being jumped."

"Either way," said Dally, putting out his cigarette, "I'm gonna do it. Who's with me?"

Tera nodded, so did Johnny and Steve. I groaned and nodded along with Soda and Two-Bit. "Good," said Dally, "At midnight we'll meet outside."

My mid was racing, so I went to my room and tried to get some sleep. It was only five o'clock, nut I was already dog tired. I must have dropped off, because what seemed like a few minutes later Soda was waking me up.

"Come on Ponyboy, get up. We're gonna go." I sat up groggily, dimly aware of Soda pulling on my arm. "Come on Pony, we haven't got all day."

I was suddenly wide awake as we exited the house. Standing in a circle was Dally, Two-Bit, Steve, Johnny and Tera. We walked over to them to join the circle. Dally was smoking, along with Johnny and Steve.

"Soda, where's Darry?" I asked, looking around as if expecting him to jump out at us from behind a bush.

"Don't worry," said Steve with an evil grin, "I hooked him up with one of my lady friends, and trust me kid, he won't be home tonight."

I was still worried, but I tried not to show it as Dally began going over the plans fro the night.

"Listen," he said, his eyes two chips of cold blue ice, "Here's what's gonna go down. We're going over to the Soc side of the city. I checked and you guys know that Soc that was giving us trouble?"

We all nodded, Tera had made sure that he would remember her.

"His names Nathan Elliot, I checked, and we're gonna go…re-decorate his house. Or at least give him a good shake up." He flipped up the collar of his jacket as the wind kicked up, causing us all to shiver.

The moon was out, but it was a small sliver darting in between the clouds. There was hardly any light as we walked towards the railroad tracks that separated our turf from theirs. I saw Tera and Dally hesitate before they took a step into Soc territory.

I felt the breath catch in my throat as I stepped over the tracks. I froze as I heard the wind rustle a pile of leaves on the ground. I was like a scared rabbit, ready to bolt at any sudden move. Soda gave my shoulder a squeeze and followed.

"See Pony, no big scary Socs," said Tera, trying to sound casual, but we could all hear the catch in her voice.

Dally gave a cold laugh, "Ya Pony, we won't see any of them until we get to his house."

I groaned and walked close behind Dally. We walked through neighborhoods with huge houses and high fences. I could see Johnny shaking with nerves; he hated the Socs and everything to do with him.

Two-Bit kept making jokes, until we all stopped laughing and started wondering what the hell we were doing here. Dallas stopped in front of a huge house with all the lights on except one. I looked up at the house and gulped. I could tell there was a party going on from the amount of noise.

"Well boys, I think there's a party going on," said Tera with a smile, "I'm in a partying mood, who else is?" Everyone yelled and followed her into the house. I shot a look at Johnny but followed Steve into the house. We walked in, scoping out the scene.

We could tell they were Socs, all dressed up fine. I suddenly felt very conspicuous in my jeans and my greased hair. Dallas and Tera walked off then returned with beers in their hands. Soda declined, but he kept getting funny looks from the Soc girls. "Uh oh," I said as Nathan the Soc walked towards us.

"Why hello 'girlie', you finally decided to come join us." He walked over to Tera and tried to put his arm around her waist. Tera responded by giving him a punch to the jaw.

"Don't call me _girlie_," she said in a voice laced with anger. "We've got some unfinished business Soc," she said, pulling Dally's switchblade from out of his back pocket. "Right now," she said, her eyes blazing with hatred.

The Soc smiled and all at once about seven more Socs joined him. "Still wanna fight?" He asked, pulling out his blade.

Tera smiled and pounced on the Soc. I was dimly aware of somebody yelling, 'FIGHT' and of a lot of screams. Dally tackled one of them and knocked over a table in the process. Two-Bit took down one, knocking his head into a lamp. Steve jumped on two, and Soda took the largest one. Johnny and I were cornered by three huge Socs, all with angry looks in their eyes.

They were this close to getting at us when Dally jumped on the largest one of the group, bringing him down with a lot of swearing and yelling. Suddenly there was a flash through the window of blue and cherry flashing lights.

"Oh shit," said Steve, wiping his bleeding nose.

Tera was still on top of the Soc, swearing at him and proceeding to give him a matching pair of black eyes. "Police, stop this right now!" Yelled one of the officers, pulling Tera off the Soc. Dally was being escorted to the car with Tera, both of them swearing and bleeding. One of the officers came up to escort Two-Bit and Steve, and another for Soda and me.

I was stuck in the car with Dally and Tera, and both of them were busy trying to mop the blood off their faces. "So," I said trying to sound cool but faltering.

"We taught them," said Dally with a grin. He was bleeding from the mouth, and he spat a mouthful of blood out of the window.

"Dally, if Darry finds out," I began, but I stopped speaking, the lump in my throat was too big.

"Oh shit Dally, we didn't think of that," said Tera, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "They'll end up sending Pony to some boy's home."

"Na," said Dally, lighting a cigarette, "He doesn't have a record, and he's a minor. It'll all drop off his record."

The car stopped, and policemen got out. "Come with me," they said to us, and we followed him into the jail. At the sight of the bars I panicked, and Dally's eyes grew hard and cold. The men slid open the doors to the cell, and we walked in. I sat down on the bench, my head in my hands.

A few minutes later Soda, Steve, Johnny and Two-Bit were escorted into our cell.

"Soda, what'll happen if Darry finds out?" I asked, shivering with fear.

My answer was just about to be given to me. After about an hour Darry stopped outside our cell. He looked shocked to find me and Soda sitting on the hard bench.

"Bejesus Ponyboy, what'd you do?"


	4. Chapter 4

That night in jail was one of the worst days of my life. Darry was furious, and Soda was yelling at him through the bars.

"Darry what we did was good. The Socs aren't gonna jump us anymore, they'll stay on _their _side of the city!" Yelled Soda, his face up against the bars.

"I don't care! I thought you would have the sense NOT to go there! They'll throw Pony and you in some boys home!" Screamed Dally, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Don't you yell at him!" I screamed at Darry, shaking the bars of the prison, "We did this together, so you can yell at ALL of us!"

Dally walked over to the bars so he could talk to Darry, "Hey man, it was my idea. Don't give 'em too hard of a time."

"DALLAS!" Screamed Darry, looking ready to pound all of us, "You shouldn't have even thought of this! You're gonna get my kid brothers taken away!"

A policeman came up and put a hand on Darry's shoulder, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Darry looked like he might shatter the guy's jaw, but he walked out of the jail without a backward glance at us. I sank onto the cold floor with a groan.

_We're dead. _I thought, the police were gonna ship us off to a boys' home and I'd never get to see the gang again. I was aware of tears sliding down my cheeks, but I made no sound. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and saw Soda's face.

"Easy Pony," he said, pulling me into a hug, "We'll be okay." He let go as another policeman came up to the bars.

"Theresa Lane," he said, looking at Tera.

"What," she snarled, an angry look in her eye.

"You're in for a lot of trouble missy," he said with a gleeful look on his face.

"What'd you do?" Asked Dally, giving her a surprised look.

"Oh you'll find out soon enough," she said, sinking down on to the floor.

"Wanted, Theresa Lane, for theft, breaking and entering, vandalism…" The list of crimes went on and on, until even Dally was looking shocked.

"Wait wait, Tera? This Tera? _Our_ Tera?" Said Dally with a shocked look on his face, "Wow, your record is worse then mine."

"Speaking of you," said the policeman, turning to Dally, "You're wanted for breaking and entering too. The Elliot family only wanted to press charges on the ones who broke their son's nose."

Tera groaned along with Dally.

"The rest of you are just going to be held here overnight," he said, and walked out towards his office.

"Great," said Steve, lighting a cigarette, "We're stuck here overnight."

"What'll they do to you two?" Asked Johnny, sounding worried.

"Hey don't worry Johnnycake," said Dally, "What's the worst they can do?"

My mind was racing, and I was thinking of a million and one things that they could do to greasers like us. They could use instruments of torture; or they could hang us upside down by our toes and feed us Steve's cooking.

"Hey Pony, you okay? You look kinda pale," said Johnny, passing me a cigarette. I took a deep drag and gave him a shaky smile. "See Pony, it'll be okay."

"Okay, I don't plan on spending the rest of my life in jail," said Tera, "After tonight I'll find a way to get out with the rest of you."

"How ya gonna do that?" Asked Dally, "They're watchin the freaking building!"

"Trust me," she said with a smile, "Give me your switchblade."

Dallas shrugged and passed her his blade. She gave us a smile and made a quick swipe down her wrist, watching the blood flow. "Help!" She yelled, trying to sound innocent, "I'm bleeding."

Well this was an understatement, seeing as how all of us were bleeding somehow, but she was bleeding good. The shirt I lent her was now stained with the blood running from her wrist. "Here," she tossed the blade back to Dally. "See you tomorrow." The policeman ran over to our cell.

"What's going on?"

"Help!" Yelled Tera, letting her eyes roll back into her head.

"Call an ambulance!" Yelled the cop, opening the door and grabbing Tera.

She gave us a wink before the cop shut the door and carried her out to the car.

"That's one crazy broad," said Dally. "I wouldn't even have thought of that."

"Ya Dally, but how are _you_ gonna get out?" He shrugged and pulled a cigarette from his pocket.

"I'll think of something."

I looked at my watch, three in the morning. Oh crap, I was in for it. Getting jailed, breaking and entering, getting into a fight. I bet that they would throw me and Soda into a boys home. I sat against the wall and sank into a fitful sleep.

I woke up the next morning to Two-Bit's grinning face. "Hey kid, wake up. We're getting' out." I jumped up and almost knocked him over, man did I want out! I practically ran out of the jail until we got to our house. I flung open the door and immediately sank onto the couch.

Darry was at work, and for that I was very thankful. Steve had gone home, and Johnny had gone to stay with Two-Bit. I could tell that no one wanted to be at our house when Darry got home. Soda came in, looking vaguely dejected.

"Dally's still in the cooler. They took Tera to the hospital," he sank into the armchair across from me.

"Well let's go see her!" I said, "Just let me get changed." I ran into our room and changed into a black shirt, tossing my dirty one in the pile on the floor. I stopped before we left to look at myself in the mirror. Okay, maybe I did look a little bit like Soda. Everyone said that the older I got the more I looked like him. Maybe if I was lucky I would end up looking like him when I was older.

I followed Soda towards the hospital where Tera was staying. We walked up the stairs and walked onto the third floor where she was staying. The doctor was standing outside of the room going over some papers. "Boys she has another visitor now so if you'd like to wait…"

Soda ignored him and opened the door to Tera's room. Tera was propped up in bed, clad in a black tee shirt and a pair of cut off jeans. Sitting in a chair beside her bed was Dallas Winston.

"Dally!" I yelled, running over to where he sat, "How'd you get out?"

"I have my ways," he said, putting out his cigarette, "Is Darry home?"

Soda shook his head, "Thankfully he's at work." He walked over to Tera and held up her wrist. It was wrapped in a white cloth, but it was stained with red.

"I think I cut a vein," said Tera, putting her arm down. "At least that's what the doctor said."

"But won't they come and get you?" I asked her, pulling up a chair and sitting down in it.

"Not today they won't," she said with a grin. "It'll take more then a slit wrist to get me back in jail."

"Wait, _back?_" Said Dally, giving her a piercing look.

"Ya," she rubbed her wrist, "I didn't really want you guys to know that. It's not something I'm proud of."

"Well Tera, what'd you do?" Asked Dally, his eyes becoming cold.

"Okay." She said with a scowl, "Here's what happened. I was caught in the middle of shoplifting."

"That's it?" Asked Dally with a mile, "That's not so bad."

"That's not all," she said, "This was while I was drunk, and then I…sorta broke outta the jail."

"Still Ter, it could be worse," said Dally, sitting down on the edge of her bed and wrapping his arms around her.

The doctor opened the door and began to talk to us, "Ms. Lane, you have a visitor…" But he was cut off by a woman walking in the door with a scowl.

"Tera _darling,_" she said, giving us dirty looks. "What are you doing with _these people_?"

Tera's eyes hardened, "_These people_ are more trustworthy then you. _These people _wouldn't try to sell my virginity for money. _These people_ are more family then you are!" Her eyes were blazing now.

"Honey that was a long time ago. We want you back. You still won't open up to me, your own mother!"

"You're NOT my mother you fucking bitch! Get out of my room!" She stood up, yanking out a switchblade. "Get out. NOW," she said in a deathly cold voice.

Her mother looked shocked and made a move towards her, "Honey."

Dallas stepped in front of her, "I think you better leave," he said, pulling out his blade.

Her mother looked shocked, but walked out of the room and shut the door with a snap. Tera sank onto the bed, putting away her blade.

"Wow," I said, "Your mother did that?"

"I don't like talking about it," she said in a quiet voice. I nodded, I didn't like to talk about Mom and Dad's deaths either.

Soda walked over to her bed and put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey. If you ever want to talk about it we're here."

Tera nodded and smiled, "Thanks guys."

I wondered what it was like hating your mother like that. Sure Darry and I fought, but we didn't hate each other. I felt bad for her; she and Dallas were so alike. They were both hardened by jail and living on the wrong side of the tracks.

"That was the first time I'd seen my mother in seven years," she said in a voice so quiet we barely heard her.

"Are you sure you don't want us to leave?" Asked Dally, sitting down on her bed corner.

She nodded, "I'll need help getting out of here in the morning."

"Hey Pony, we need to be getting home, otherwise Darry's gonna have an even bigger fit." Said Soda, standing up and putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey Soda, can I stay here? I really don't wanna hear Darry tonight."

Sodapop shrugged, "Whatever Pony. Just don't come home in the middle of the night or Darry'll kill both of us." He gave Tera a smiled and grinned at Dally then walked out the door.

I put two of the chairs together and laid down on them, putting Soda's DX hat over my eyes. Within moments I was asleep on the chairs.

* * *

I woke up screaming. I had just had one of those dreams, the same on that I'd been having since Mom and Dad died. I sat up, shivering and hugging my knees. Dally woke up from my scream and came over to me, and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Pony, it's okay. It's okay. You'll be fine." He spoke in a low soothing voice, trying to calm me down. I was shaking and crying, fear bubbling inside of me.

Tera woke up with a moan and sat up, then saw me crying. She came over to me and gave me a hug. "It's okay Ponyboy, you'll be fine." I must have fallen asleep, because crying always makes me tired. I remember Dally and Tera talking to me in low voices, but that was all I remembered.

* * *

"Hey kid, wake up."

I moaned and rolled over, but seeing as I slept on chairs I rolled onto the cold floor with a 'thunk'.

I was really awake by then, and my morning wasn't going too hot.

"Hey Pony, we gotta go," said Tera with a nervous look at the door. "The police guy is outside, so we've gotta find another way out."

I groaned, "Dally what time is it?"

"It's seven Pony, and we better get you home before Darry clubs all of us." I stood up, rubbing what promised to be a large lump on my head. "How're we getting out?" Asked Dally, pulling a cigarette from his pocket.

Tera looked around the room, and her eyes landed on the window. "So, you boys ever jumped out a window before?" I walked over to the window to see how far a jump it was. It couldn't have been more then eight feet, but I didn't want to jump either way.

"Come on," she said, opening the window only to be met by a mesh screen. "Knife," she said, holding out her hand for Dallas's blade. He passed it to her, and she began cutting a hole in it. About three minutes later she passed back the knife and climbed through the hole. She gave us a grin before she jumped out the window, rolling once she hit the ground.

"Ponyboy, if you ever get a girl like this, I'll kill you," said Dally, putting out his cigarette and following her. I looked down through the window, groaned and jumped. The landing shocked my legs, causing them to buckle and roll. Dally pulled me up by my jacket and grinned at me.

"Well Pony, what have you learned from hanging out with us?" He asked as the sun began to rise as we walked towards our house.

"I've learned that even girls carry heaters, I'm never going to date, I'm never going to lie cheat or steal, and another thing. I'll never become a parent because with my luck my kid'll end up just like you."

They laughed as we opened the door to find Two-Bit sitting on the floor, drinking beer and watching a Mickey Mouse cartoon. Steve was sitting next to him, eating a piece of chocolate cake. Soda was sitting in his boxers on the couch looking half asleep, and Johnny was reading a book.

"Hey," said Steve as we walked in, "I thought you guys were in the cooler."

"Na, nothing keeps Dallas Winston down," said Dally with a smile.

"Nice hickey," said Two-Bit to Tera. Her hand immediately flew to her neck and a flush crept up both her and Dally's faces.

"Umm," said Two-Bit with a laugh, "That was a joke. I didn't think you two had matching hickeys…."

I couldn't help myself, I began to laugh along with Soda and Steve.

"Haha, very funny," said Tera with an angry look at all of them. "Nice boxers by the way Soda."

Soda looked down and immediately blushed a crimson red, "What is it with you seeing me in my boxers huh?" He yelled as he ran into our room to change into actual clothes.

I followed him; after all, I _was _tired. The past day's events had worn me out so that the moment I hit the mattress I was out like a light.


	5. Chapter 5

I awoke to Soda shaking me. "Come on Pony, we're goin' to a dance." I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"What time is it?" I asked, still not fully awake.

"Pony it's seven. You slept since this morning when you and Dal' and Tera got back from the hospital. Are you gonna come or what?"

I stood up and grabbed my jacket from the back of my chair. "Ya I'm comin'." I walked out of the room with Soda to find Dally and Tera waiting in the living room. I felt my jaw drop when I saw Tera. She was wearing jean shorts and a form fitting black tee shirt. She looked amazing, but then I realized that I was staring and I try not to stare.

"Glad you're awake Pony," said Dally with a grin. "You sure have been sleeping a lot since Tera came."

I thought this over; I had been sleeping a lot. Maybe I was getting some unknown illness that made you sleep all the time. No, that was just my imagination acting up.

"Hey Pepsi-cola, let's move," said Tera with a grin. Soda nodded and opened the door. Parked in the driveway was Buck's T-Bird.

"Dally, why won't you just _buy _your own car?" I asked, jumping into the backseat.

"Because kid, Dallas Winston doesn't _buy _things. I _borrow._" He climbed into the driver seat and turned the key in the ignition. "Hey, buckle in."

I quickly did, I had ridden in the car with him before. He started the car and drove down the road incredibly fast towards the school. Soda was hanging onto the seat so hard that bits of stuffing came off into his hands. Dally stopped the car in the parking lot.

"Wait," I said as I stepped out of the car. "You guys don't go to school here. Won't you get busted?"

"Na," said Soda, "It's not like they know our faces."

Tera let out a cough that sounded oddly like 'disruption'.

"Oh ya," said Soda, opening the gym door, "You two helped break Pony _into _school. You better hope the secretary isn't chaperoning."

Soda saw Steve and gave him a wave. Two-Bit was dancing with one of his many blondes, and Johnny wasn't there. Dally pulled Tera onto the dance floor and they began to dance. I quickly saw Mr. Drick, the math teacher. He hated me, and I could tell.

"Soda," I said, grabbing his arm, "It's Mr. Drick! It's the teacher who's failing me in math! Quick!"

I pulled my older brother onto the dance floor. At once girls began flocking around him. One of them walked up to me and asked me to dance. I agreed and started dancing. She was pretty, her hair was a dark chocolate and her eyes were a pretty blue. We started talking, and I found out her name was Marie and she was in my year. We were talking about the sunsets when Mr. Drick came over to where we were dancing.

"Ponyboy, you know that when you're failing a class you can't come to school functions."

"Ya, I know Mr. Prick, I mean Mr. Drick," I said with a cool smile.

"Then get out!" He said, giving me a shove in the direction of the door. In an instant Dally and Tera were there, giving the teacher a look of hatred.

"Hey look Tera, its Mr. Prick," said Dally with a laugh.

"Dallas you don't go here anymore, so you three had better leave."

Marie mumbled do excuse about needing to go to the bathroom and left quickly. "Come on," said Two-Bit, walking over to where we were standing.

I gave the teacher one last look of anger and followed them outside. "Nice work Ponyboy," said Steve, slapping me on the back.

I gave them a weak smile and lit a cigarette.

"Seriously Ponyboy, you've been keeping your cool more then usual. I'm proud," said Two-Bit with mock tears.

"Aw shut up," I said, walking towards our house.

"Hey Pony, you want a ride?" Asked Dally, jumping into the car with Tera.

I shook my head, "I'm gonna walk. Trust me guys you don't wanna be home when Darry blows up," I gave them a wave and began walking in the growing darkness. Soda ran after me, and I saw in the distance Dally driving with Tera towards the diner.

"Hey Ponyboy, you have fun?" He asked me with a grin.

I shrugged, "It was okay. That Marie girl I danced with was really pretty."

Soda gave me a smile, "See Pony, I told you you'd grow out of the 'eek girls' time. Dally did. Wait no, Dally always love girls, never mind."

I laughed as we walked up the steps and into our living room. Darry was sitting in his favorite armchair reading the paper. I put out my cigarette and groaned. Darry looked up from the paper as we sat down on the couch.

"Where the hell have you been Ponyboy? You didn't show up last night, and then you slept all day! Now you show up after begin who knows where! If the people from the state find out that you were in jail, you and Soda'd end up in a boy's home!"

I groaned. Here he goes with the boy's home thing. Once you get him started it never ends!

Darry heard my groan, "Well Ponyboy if you don't like the way I run things you can just leave!"

"You'd like that wouldn't you!" I screamed angrily, "You'd like me just to get the hell out will you? Well you've got one less mouth to feed!" I didn't know what I was doing, but I walked out onto the porch, slamming the door. I saw Darry and Tera locked in a passionate kiss but I began running. I just ran and ran. Pretty soon I realized that I must have left Tulsa, so I hitchhiked a ride. Next stop: Dallas, Texas.

**Soda's POV**

Man, Darry really did it now. I never thought Ponyboy would talk to Darry like that, but he's growing up. I hate it when they argue, because I'm always stuck in the middle and they always expect me to choose sides.

"Nice goin' Superman," I said with an angry look at my older brother. I slammed the door as I walked out onto the porch.

"Hey Soda," said Dally, "Your kid brother looks pretty pissed at something. He just started running."

I groaned, "Him and Darry had another fight. I'm worried about him you know?"

"Hey Soda, has he ever run away before?" Asked Tera, coming over to where I was standing.

I shook my head, "But he…might have run away." It suddenly hit me, Ponyboy had run. What if the Socs jumped him? He could be lying bleeding in a gutter somewhere!

I was woken from my thinking by Tera putting her hand on my shoulder. "Come on Soda, let's find him. After all, how far could he have gotten to?"

I nodded and ran back into the house to talk to Darry. He was still sitting in the chair in the same spot he was when we left. "Dar," I said softly, "We're gonna go look for Ponyboy. We think he ran away. Gimme your keys."

Darry nodded and tossed me his keys, "Hey Pepsi, tell Pony I'm sorry when you find him will ya?"

I nodded and ran out onto the porch, jumping down the stairs and running towards Darry's truck.

"I'm driving," said Dallas, jumping into the driver seat of the truck. Tera and I climbed into the car so I was sitting next to the window. I groaned inwardly, I knew how Dallas drove. I clung to the seat as he put his foot down on the gas and Tera swore at Dally's driving.

We stopped at the DX to tell Two-Bit, Johnny and Steve, and to get gas for the car.

"Wait, Ponyboy ran away?" Said Johnny. Poor kid, he's taking this worse then I thought. "I'm coming," he said simply, looking over at Steve. "Can you drive us?"

Steve nodded and walked around the back to get his car. He pulled up, and Johnny got in, followed by Two-Bit. "Hey Soda, how we gonna know where Pony is?"

I frowned, I hadn't thought of that. Tera simply got in the driver seat of Darry's car. "Just follow me Steve; Pony mumbled something about Texas when he ran away."

I jumped in the car next to Dally, who was calmly smoking a cigarette. Tera shut the door and turned the key. "Hold on boys, this is gonna be wild," and with that she slammed her foot down on the gas. Right then I was glad that I was wearing a seat belt.

Dallas wound up being thrown into Tera, who maneuvered the car with skill considering how fast it was moving. After about an hour I felt myself beginning to fall asleep so I submitted myself into welcome darkness.

**Dallas's POV**

Poor Soda, he's taking Ponyboy running away really hard. He finally fell asleep after about an hour. Tera was driving, and we were speeding down the highway at about three times the speed limit. "So, where are we goin'?" I asked, lighting up a cigarette.

"Dallas."

"What?"

"Dallas."

"WHAT!"

"We're _going _to Dallas. Ponyboy said something about Dallas, Texas." She pulled onto the highway and began driving faster.

"Tera, how's the kid gonna get all the way to Dallas huh? He didn't bring any money or nothing."

"Trust me," she said, pushing her hair out of her face, "I managed to get all the way to Tulsa on the kindness of strangers."

"Hun' there's no such thing as kindness. Besides you're a good looking _girl _and Ponyboy is… Ponyboy."

Tera switched lanes and yelled out the window to Steve, "Hey Steve, you still with me?" He pulled his car next to us so we were able to talk to Two-Bit. "We're getting close to a gas station. We'll stop for gas, okay?"

Two-Bit nodded and they resumed following us. "So Ter, why'd you come to Tulsa?"

She shrugged, "I guess because it was as far as I could get from my _mother._" She spat the last word out as if it was poison.

"So, where were you from?"

"New York," she replied.

"I'm from New York," I said, grinding my cigarette out on the dashboard.

"Ya, I thought my parents would never find me in Tulsa. No offence, but it's in the middle of nowhere. I never thought they'd be able to trace me here."

I nodded and yawned. I must have dropped off, because the next thing I knew Tera was shaking my shoulder.

"Hey hood, get up!" I groaned and sat up, looking around the car. Soda was already awake, looking around same as me. "We're at the gas station."

"So?"

"So we're getting gas, and this is close to where Pony might be." At the mention of his younger brother Soda jumped out of the car and ran towards Steve's car. I got out slower and leaned against the car, lighting a cigarette.

"Wait, so now all we need to do is look for Ponyboy?" Said Two-Bit, eyeing a blonde who was getting gas pumped for her.

"Ya," said Tera, "We're close to Dallas, and this seems about as far as he could go in one night.

"We're close to Dallas all right," I said, pulling Tera towards me.

"Get a room," said Steve with a laugh.

"Hey, just cuz' you can't get a girl is no reason to spoil _our _fun," said Tera leaning against my side.

"Okay, can we find my brother now?" Asked Soda, climbing into the driver seat of Darry's car.

We nodded, getting back in the cars. I sat near the window, Tera leaning against me. I yawned and looked out the window as Soda started the car up.

**Ponyboy's POV**

I groaned and sat up. "Hey kid, this is your stop," said the truck driver I had got a ride from. I thanked him and got out of the car. He drove off, just as I realized I had no idea where I was. This running away thing was a stupid idea. I was standing on the side of the road in nothing but Soda's old sweat shirt and a pair of jeans.

I looked up at the sky as it began to rain. "Great," I said to the sky. "Is this what I get for running away! ARE YOU HAPPY UP THERE!" I sat down on the edge of the road and watched the cars passing by. This was going to be a long night.

**Soda's POV**

Dallas and Tera fell asleep as we drove out onto the highway. I was really worried about Ponyboy, and it was starting to rain. I saw a person yelling at the sky on the side of the road. Poor kid, he looked soaked. Wait, the soaking kid looked like Ponyboy!

I threw the breaks on and ran out of the car, stumbling and tripping. "PONYBOY!" I yelled, tackling him to the ground. Pony grinned and hugged me, screaming just like me.

Dally and Tera came out of the car, looking stunned from the sudden stop. At the exact same moment they realized that the kid I was hugging frantically was my kid brother.

"PONY," they yelled at the same time, running towards him. I let go of him so they could give him hugs.

"Hey kid, never do that again," said Dally, passing him his jacket, "Darry's awful sorry he yelled at you."

"I figured," said Pony, putting on Dally's huge jacket.

"Come on kid, lets go home," I said, leading him to the car. I jumped in, glad to be out of the rain. Dallas drove home, and I fell asleep with my arm around my kid brother.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, I'm going to be gone for the next two or so weeks, so that'll be why the updates are coming later. Sorry about that, but I'll make this one extra long for ya!

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**Dally's POV**

It was almost sun up by the time we pulled into the Curtis's driveway. Soda and Ponyboy were asleep, and Tera was dozing lightly. I shook Ponyboy to wake him up. The kid jumped almost a mile in the air. "Easy kid, you're home," I said with a smile. I felt bad, the running away thing must have really shaken him up.

Pony smiled back and shook his brother. "Soda, come on, get up." Soda sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. They opened the door of the car and walked inside. I shook Tera softly.

"Hey, wake up," I said gently. "Come on Ter, get up, I don't want to have to carry ya."

She moaned and turned over, "Five more minutes. I'll get up, I'll get up." She curled into a ball and continued sleeping.

I smiled, "Hey Ter, it's that Soc you jumped."

She jumped in the air, looking wildly around the car. As soon as she realized that there was no Soc she gave me an icy look. "Oh very funny Dally."

"Oh come on, it was the only way I was going to get you up."

She grinned and leaned in towards me, "Or this."

**Two-Bit's POV**

I jumped out of Steve's car, only to be greeted by one of the funniest sight's I'd seen in a long time. Dally and Tera were sitting in the front seat of Darry's car making out. I let out a laugh in spite of myself.

"Hey guys get over here!" I yelled to the gang. Johnny got out of the car looking sleepy and Soda, Pony and Darry ran out of the house.

Dally and Tera both looked up and fixed me with angry looks from their identical ice blue eyes. I shuddered; those eyes always freaked me out.

**Ponyboy's POV**

I laughed along with the others as Dally and Tera got out of the car. "So, when's the wedding?" Asked Two-Bit with a grin.

Tera gave him an icy look but finally smiled.

I grinned in spite of myself and pulled five dollars from my pocket. "Here Johnnycake, I guess you win."

"Wait, what does he win?" Asked Dally, eyeing my money suspiciously.

"Umm, well," I began but I looked over at Johnny.

"Umm, don't get mad but..."

"I don't like any conversation that starts with 'don't get mad'," said Tera, giving us an icy stare that chilled my bones.

"Wehadabetontryingtoseeifyoutwowouldfallinloveorhateeachother," said Johnny all in one breath.

"Wait, you had a _bet_?" Said Dally, removing his hand from Tera's waist to pull out a cigarette.

"Yes," said Johnny simply.

"How long was it going on?"

"Since the second you two walked in the door."

"Oh I feel great," said Dally, taking a drag on his cigarette, "People bet behind my backs about my love life. How wonderful to know."

Tera gave Johnny an odd look, tipping her head to the side. "Johnnycakes, how much did you make off the bet?"

Johnny shrugged, "About twenty bucks. Why?"

Tera smiled, "I want half. I'll split it with Dal here. After all, it _was _us you were betting about wasn't it?"

Johnny gave her a rare smile and handed her half. She then proceeded to give half of it to Dallas.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you," said Two-Bit in a voice that made him sound like a southern preacher. "To never meddle in other people's lives. It simply loses you cash."

I laughed along with the others and walked inside, yawning the whole way. Sitting in his chair was Darry. His eyes were red and I could tell he'd been crying. "Ponyboy," he said in a shaky voice, "I'm really sorry." I nodded and smiled at him.

After a brief chat with Darry I walked into the room me and Soda shared and flopped down on the bed. I was beat, and there was no way I'd ever have the energy to get into a fight with Darry tomorrow. With that thought I fell into blissful sleep.

**Dallas's POV**

Poor Ponyboy, he must have been really tired after what happened today. The kid's had a hard time growing up, and Darry yelling all the time hasn't exactly helped it. I walked into the Curtis's home and kicked off my shoes, plopping down on the couch.

"So Dall, you've been staying here for a long time. When ya gonna leave ya greasy hood?" Asked Soda with a grin.

I stood up and playfully punched him in the ribs. "Whenever I feel like it. I'll probably end up going to Buck's later though." I sat back down on the couch and shut my eyes.

"Night," said Soda, going into his room.

"Night," I mumbled back. I heard Darry get up and leave, shutting off the lights.

I was almost asleep when Tera climbed onto the couch next to me. I put my arm around her and smiled to myself. She moved closer to me and sighed happily. I fell asleep with her in my arms and a rare smile on my face.

**Ponyboy's POV**

I woke up early the next morning to find a weak ray of sunrise streaming through the window in the room me and Soda shared. I wiggled out from under his arm and walked into the kitchen for some breakfast. There was a note stuck on the fridge door.

_Pony and Soda_

_I had to go to work early, and Pony I called you in sick at school today. I figured you could use a day off. Don't get into too much trouble._

_Darry_

I smiled and pulled a slice of chocolate cake out of the fridge. I poured myself a glass of milk and walked into the living room to watch some T.V. On the couch, as usual, was Dally and Tera, arms wrapped around each other. I smiled to myself and walked out onto the porch.

I sat down on the seat to watch the sunrise. The sky turned pink and blue then orange and gold. I smiled to myself, it was always good to be able to just sit back and watch the sun rise.

"I'd forgotten how much I love sunrises," said a voice form behind me. I jumped as I saw Tera, her eyes softer then they were before.

"Ya," I said softly.

"The only other time I saw one was in New York. I remember it well. I was sitting in an alleyway after getting mugged. And suddenly there was a blast of color and the sun rose. I'll never forget it."

She gave me one of those looks, the same one she had given Johnny, tilting her head to one side.

"Hey Pony, you wanna do me a favor?"

"Sure, what's the favor? If it's like the time Two-Bit asked me to go with him to the movies then…"

"No, it's nothing like that," she said with a laugh. "Um, my birth father lives around here and I was wondering if you would go with me. If I took any of the other guy's, well, they wouldn't understand."

I nodded and put my plate down on the porch. "Ya, let's go now."

"Thanks Pony," she said with a smile.

We walked towards the vacant lot where Johnny sometimes slept, and kept going. Pretty soon the sun was up and we stopped at an old looking house on the border of Greaser territory. Tera put a finger to her lips and jimmied the lock until it opened.

Sitting in a chair by the window was a man so old I swear I could see him turning to dust before my eyes. Tera walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Dad," she said in a quiet voice, "Dad, it's me. Remember, Tera? Your kid?"

The man's ice blue eyes focused on her face, "Tera?"

"Ya Dad, remember? I came here to get away from Mom. Remember?"

The man looked at me with a confused look on his face, "And is this your brother Tera?"

"Oh I'm just," I began, but Tera cut me off.

"Ya Dad, its Jimmy. Remember him?"

"Jimmy?"

I smiled at the man and walked over to him. "Ya Dad," I said with a meaningful look from Tera, "It's me."

A woman walked over to him and passed him a bowl of soup. "You kids go now, I'll watch him," she said with a warm smile.

Tera nodded curtly and lead me to the door. Suddenly we heard her father speaking in a weak voice, "Nature's first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold, her early leafs a flower ,but only so an hour ,then leaf subsides to Leaf ,so Eden sank to grief ,dawn goes down to day nothing gold can stay."

I smiled and shut the door behind Tera. "My dad's memory's been bad. Ever since he was about twenty and my mom left him. He used to run the place over here, in greaser territory. Then one day a Soc bashed him in the head, and he's been like that ever since. Jimmy," she choked and I could see her holding back tears. "Was my brother. He was killed by that same Soc that beat up me, and the same one that bashed my dad's head. I'm sorry you had to see that."

I put my hand on her shoulder, "Hey. It's okay. Everyone had problems." A sudden thought hit me, "That's why you came here isn't it? For revenge?"

"No," she said thoughtfully as we walked back to my house, "For love."

"Hey, where ya been?" Asked Two-Bit with a grin.

I saw Tera brush away her tears and give him a smile, "No where. Pony and me was just runnin errands is all."

I grinned and turned to look at her, "You know the poem your dad said as we left?"

She nodded.

"It's by Robert Frost," I said with a smile, "Nothing gold can stay."

Tera smiled and gave me a hug, "Thanks Ponyboy. I'm glad someone was there with me."

"Damn Pony can your ears get red," said Dally, coming out of the house with s grin.

I grinned and shrugged with a smile. I guess my ears were red a lot around girls.

"How red can _your _ears get?" Asked Dally, walking over to Tera and putting his arms around her. If you know Dallas, you know he can talk pretty dirty when he wants to, and he must have wanted to, because he said some things that Darry would skin me if I repeated, so I'll just say this.

My ears were burning, and Tera's looked like red hot embers. Even Two-Bit was blushing a little bit.

"Come on Dal, you're scaring Pony here," said Tera with a grin, putting her arms around his neck.

"Aw fine," he said with an evil grin.

"So, what are we doin' tonight?" Asked Soda as we walked in the living room.

I shrugged and sat down in front of the T.V. where Two-Bit was watching Mickey Mouse. I don't know why he likes it so much, he just does. I smiled as Soda yelled out to Dally and Tera, "Get a room guys come on! I don't want Pony seein' this kinda stuff!"

I smiled and turned my attention back to the television. Dally and Tera walked in and sat down on the couch next to me. "So," said Steve, walking in the door. "Who wants to play Scrabble?"

Two-Bit diverted his eyes from the T.V. "What's Scrabble?"

"It's some new game. You have to spell words and the more words you spell the more points you get." He sat down at the table and pulled out a board game with a bunch of square tiles with letters on it.

After about fifteen minutes of complete confusion in which Two-Bit was hit in the head a lot we figured out how to play.

"Allright Two-Bit," I said with a grin, "Escaped."

"My turn," said Dallas with an evil grin, "Dick."

"Dirty words don't count," said Tera indignantly as he put his arm around her.

"Sure they do! It's a word aint it?"

"All right, two can play that game," said Tera with a smirk, "A bad word, hmm. Dallas Winston."

"Ouch," said Dally clutching his chest with a look of mock pain. "That hurt."

I smiled as Darry walked in the room. "What's goin' on?" He asked, dropping his coat on the chair and sitting down to watch our game. "Dick?" He said out loud.

"Sodapop Curtis, what kind of game are you letting your kid brother play?"

Soda laughed, "No that was just Dally's idea of a world."

We all laughed, and Darry walked over to the phone that had begun ringing. His face fell as he listened to it. "Umm Tera, it's for you," he said in a saddened voice.

Tera's eyes flashed and she picked up the phone. In the silence that followed we heard the voice on the phone as clearly as if the person talking was standing in our living room. "I'm sorry Ms. Lane, but your father has just passed away."

She sank to her knees, letting the phone drop from her hands. Silent tears fell from her eyes, and Dally walked over to her, pulling her into a hug. "Shh, it'll be okay."

Soda and Steve walked over to her and put their hands on her shoulders, and Two-Bit walked over to hang up the phone. I sat there, feeling foolish until Johnny walked over to Tera and gave her a hug. I followed suit, tears in my eyes.

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The next day was the funeral. I pulled on my black dress shirt, the same on I had worn to Mom and Dad's funeral. We all walked out into the living room. Soda, Steve and Two-Bit hadn't greased their hair back, and Dally had taken off his black jacket. Tera was standing there in a black dress, her hair held back by a hair band.

She looked so young and helpless standing there, not the usual tough Tera. Darry led her to the car and we all drove in silence to the same home where Mom and Dad's funeral had been. Standing at the door was Tera's mother, and I could see the hatred in her eyes.

"No account hoodlums," her mother said, giving us dirty looks.

"I'm sorry," said Tera, "You didn't raise me, so I don't think you can tell me who to hang out with. Besides, you don't care, so you can just get the hell out."

"Come on Ter," said Dally, putting his arm around her waist, "You don't need this."

I followed them and I could have sworn I heard her mother whisper, "Greaser."

The service was short and to the point. Mr. Lane had died of natural causes led to by his injuries earlier in life. He died in no pain."

I cried softly, and so did Soda. Two-Bit and Darry sat solemn faced, and Steve sat there with a pained look on his face. Tera was leaning against Dally's shoulder, her face expressionless. Occasionally Dallas would kiss the side of her head.

After the funeral I followed the gang outside. Leaning up against the tree was the Soc that had jumped Tera, Nathan Elliot. "You bastard," I heard her say, and she ran towards him. She screamed like a banshee and pounced on him, yelling about him causing her father's death.

I didn't know what to do, but I followed Dallas in pulling her off the Soc. She was cussing him out under her breath, and her face was bleeding. The Soc ran off, shouting threats at us the whole time.

Tera's mother was standing there in the doorway watching us fight. "Of all days Tera you had to pick today." And she walked off to get into her car. Tera sank against the tree, sobbing while we tried to comfort her. Finally I stood up, watching the sun set.

"Nature's first green is gold  
Her hardest hue to hold  
Her early leafs a flower  
But only so an hour  
Then leaf subsides to Leaf  
So Eden sank to grief  
Dawn goes down to day  
Nothing gold can stay"

Tera smiled at me through her tears, "Thanks Ponyboy. He loved that poem."

"Come on," said Darry, getting into his truck. "Tera, you wanna come?"

She shook her head, "I'm just gonna stay here a while."

Darry nodded, "Dally?"

He shook his head, but Darry beckoned him over. "Hey, take care of her okay? Any funny business..." He cracked his knuckles menacingly. I hopped in the car as we drove away from the funeral home.

**Dallas's POV **

I sat with Tera, watching the sun go down over the houses. I could see her shivering, so I put my arms around her.

"Dally," she said softly.

"Ya?"

"Is your old lady dead?"

"Yes," I said softly, "She was killed in New York."

"I'm sorry," she said, leaning closer to me. "I know it hurts."

I nodded and stood up, holding out my hand for her to take. "Come on Ter, let's go." She took my hand and stood up, brushing her hair out of her eyes. We walked in silence to Buck's house, except for an occasional sniff.

Unusually there was no part going on like there usually was. I led her up to the room where I usually stayed.

"Hey, can I borrow a shirt?" She asked me, pulling off her black dress.

I nodded, tossing her a black shirt of mine. I tried not to stare at her body, but I couldn't help it. It's just the way I'm wired.

"Put your eyes back in your head Dallas," she said, tossing her dress at me. I grinned and passed her a pair of my shorts that she pulled on. I walked into the bathroom to take a shower. When I got out Tera was lying down on my bed, curled into a ball fast asleep.

I laid down next to her, noticing how her body fit perfectly against mine.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry this took so long but I was gone, and I'll also be gone next week, and then I swear I'll update more often. Thanks for understanding. By the way, this is my new Penname so..ya. here it is**

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Tera's POV**

I awoke in Dallas's arms, thinking about one thing. Sunrise. I used to watch them all the time with my Dad until he died. I left New York and Mom to start fresh and to get some answers. No with Dad being dead, I couldn't get anything. Fresh tears began to fall down my face, and I shook and sobbed quietly.

Dally woke up with a moan and opened his eyes. "Hey Ter, you okay?"

I shook my head, sitting up, "Dal, I miss him. He was the only man in my life that I could count on. Even after Mom left him he still stayed in touch with me. I just…miss...him."

"Oh," said Dallas softly, holding me in my arms as I cried. "It'll be okay. You've got a family here now. We'll watch out for ya. It'll be okay."

I smiled and looked up at him, "Come on," I said, tossing him a shirt.

"Where we goin?"

"You'll see, just come on." I pulled him by the arm out into the morning until we reached the vacant lot.

"And what's so special about here?" He asked, lighting a cigarette.

"Just watch." I sat down on the grass and watched as the sun made its slow rise above the neighborhood.

"Wow. That was..."

"I know," I said softly, "I love sunrises. It's like….a fresh start. It's telling you everything will be all right."

Dally stood up, holding out his hand for me to take. "Come on, Pony's gotta be up by now. We'll all be able to hang out or something. Maybe play some more Scrabble," he said with a seductive grin.

I smiled and followed him to the Curtis's house.

**Ponyboy's POV**

I sat there on the porch staring out at the sunrise. I wonder if Dally had ever seen one, or Johnny. "See Soda," I said as the sun rose above the houses.

"Wow," he breathed softly, "Is that all?"

I nodded.

"It was cool and all Pony, but you got me up early for this?"

I smiled, typical Sodapop. He couldn't sit still for one minute at a time. "Wasn't it worth it though?"

He nodded, "It was. I'm just really…" He yawned in the middle of the sentence, "Tired." He finished with a grin.

He walked back into the house and sat down on the couch. Two-Bit was sitting in front of the T.V a beer in one hand. "Little early for a beer isn't it Two-Bit?" I asked, plopping down next to Soda to watch Mickey Mouse.

He shrugged and remained transfixed on the screen.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Soda decided to get up and make breakfast. I stayed sitting in front of the T.V, waiting for Darry to get up. Tera and Dally walked in, hand in hand.

"Hey," said Tera, sitting down next to me. "Anybody in there?"

I shook my head and looked up at her face. "Hey. What's up?"

She shrugged, "Nothin much."

"So," yelled Soda from the kitchen, "Where were you two last night?"

Two-Bit looked up from his show, "WHAT! DALLAS WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT!"

Dally laughed, sitting down next to Tera on the couch, "Nothing you need to know about."

"Dally what are you talking about with my younger brother?" Asked Darry, coming out of his room with a tired look on his face.

Dally shrugged and turned his attention to the television. There was a brief break when a child search ad came on. _"If you have seen or heard from this child please contact 875 4221. He is a boy, age about twelve, 90 lbs, 5 foot, light blonde hair and ice blue eyes. His name is Logan Lane. He was last seen near Tulsa, Oklahoma." _

All eyes turned to Tera as the child search ad went off. Mickey was on but nobody was watching it. No one said a word. "Tera, is that your brother?" I asked softly.

Tera simply sat there, head in her hands. "Oh my god. What have I done?"

Darry gave her a worried look. "Tera. Did you know you had a brother?"

She shook her head, "Mom must have gotten re-married. I have no idea why the kid would come here; they don't even mention me at home."

"Maybe he came looking for your Dad," I said quietly.

Tera looked up, "That might be it. But I didn't think he'd come searching for him."

"Hey, breakfast is ready!" Yelled Soda from the kitchen.

"Wait Ter, does your brother know his way around?" Asked Dally, standing up.

"I don't know, I didn't even know I _had _a brother other then Jimmy."

"Well then, we've gotta find him," said Dally, "He's gonna get killed if he doesn't know the score around here."

I nodded and grabbed my jacket from where it was lying on the floor. "Come on Soda," I said, jumping out the front door. "We'll go with Dal and Tera, and Darry you and Two-Bit can go look on the other side of town."

I usually don't give orders, and usually they're never followed. So I was _incredibly _surprised when everyone listened to me. Dally and Tera led us on the goose chase around the town. It was about noon when we finally met up with Johnny and Steve at the DX. "Seen anything," I asked, taking the Pepsi that Johnny handed me and gulping it down.

"No, nothing except a bunch of Socs in their fancy cars."

"Tera," said Johnny in his quiet voice, "Where did your father live?"

"You're brilliant Johnny," said Tera giving him a kiss on the cheek and running to the edge of Greaser territory.

Dally and I followed at a sprint, Steve Johnny and Soda panting behind us.

Tera pushed open the door of the house and walked in the house. Sitting in the same chair that her father had sat in was a boy about half my size. His ice blue eyes were flashing with anger, and his long blonde hair was flopping into his face.

"What?" Snapped the boy as Tera walked towards him.

"Hey Logan," she said softly.

The boy whipped around to find a pair of identical eyes staring at him. "If you're here to get me to come back I'm not going," he said firmly. "People see the want ads in the paper and they think, 'Oh this kid must be lost'. I'm not going back."

I was stunned by the likeness between the both of them. They both had the same eyes, hair and attitude. Tera smiled at the boy, "You don't know who I am do you?"

The kid shook his head.

"So Mom really did forget about me," Tera said softly.

"Shoot my old man don't give a damn about me," said Dally, lighting a cigarette. "It shouldn't bother you Ter."

"I'm your sister," said Tera, looking Logan in the eye. "Mom probably doesn't even want to remember me. Tell me, when did she get re-married?"

"Two years ago, why?"

"Just wondering, so I would have been in New York then," she said to herself. "Anyway, Dad just died. You can't stay here."

"I don't need your damn charity!" Yelled her little brother, standing up.

"Whatever," said Tera with a shrug, "You can always come find me. I'll be at the Curtis's, Buck's or Dally's. Nice meeting you."

She walked out the door and shut it with a snap. "Do you think he'll be okay?" Asked Soda, "Just staying here?"

"Ya," said Tera with a grin, "After all he is my brother."

"But if the kid just stays here..." Began Steve with a worried look back at the house.

"Hey, didn't I say almost the exact same thing?" She asked us, shooting a worried look back at the house.

_I didn't ask for your charity. _

"Oh ya," said Two-Bit softly, "Wait. Does this mean we're gonna catch your little brother making out with Dallas?"

Dally and Tera both slapped Two-Bit upside the head. "Hey Two-Bit, there's no slash in this fic."

"What's slash? And what fic?" Asked Dally with a worried look at Tera.

"Oh nothing," said Tera with a knowing smile. "But trust me, he'll come. Sooner or later he's bound to get hungry, or get scared by the Socs. He'll come."

I looked at Johnny and shrugged. "I guess you're right," I said softly.

"Thank you Pony, Johnny, at least _somebody _believes me."

We walked back to the house in silence except for the scuffing of our old Converse on the pavement.

**Dallas's POV**

I felt really bad for Tera. I know, the tough Dallas Winston _feeling_? I had learned to block off my emotions long ago. But something about Tera made me feel…

"Hey Ter, can I talk to you?" I asked as we entered the Curtis home.

She nodded and followed me out onto the porch. "What's up?"

"Are you okay? I mean, your Dad dies, and then the brother you didn't know existed shows up, and on top of that your Mom and you getting in jail…" I broke off. "I just wanna make sure your okay," I finished lamely.

"Dal, I'm fine. Honest. If you guys weren't here then it'd be different. But…" She broke off and walked towards me, "I'm fine, honest." She gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "Trust me."

She led me back into the Curtis's house and I sat down on the couch. "Hey Soda, are those eggs still in the kitchen?" She asked, getting up and walking into the small kitchen.

"Ya, they'll be cold though," said Soda, getting out the Scrabble game.

She came back into the living room with a plate of eggs and a beer. "Such a refined palate," I said with a smirk.

"And when have _you _turned down a free beer?" She asked me, retuning the smirk.

I shrugged and sat down to play a game of Scrabble. After Two-Bit and Steve got into a fight about weather or not Mickey Mouse should count as two words we put away the game.

"Anybody up for a game of poker?" Asked Soda with a grin.

I saw Pony look around the room, as if expecting Darry to jump out of the closet and tell him not to play. "Sure," he said softly, "Why not."

After a couple of games of poker Tera made a proposition. "Okay," she said, dealing out the cards, "Dallas, if you lose this next game then I get to pierce your ear."

"What?" Said Dally, giving her a look like she was crazy.

"Yes, since you seem to keep loosing," she replied with a smirk.

This was true, Dallas already owed us each about fifteen dollars and his next car.

"Fine," said Dallas, looking at his cards.

I smiled, I had a royal flush. Nobody was getting their hands on _my _ears.

As the game turned out Dallas _did _loose, and Tera simply smiled as Two-Bit handed her a safety pin. I looked away as Dallas cringed as the pin went through his ear.

"Earring," she said as Steve passed her a silver stud.

I passed Dally a mirror with a grin, "Man Dally that sure does make you look tuff."

He grinned, "I guess it does, anybody else want one?"

Johnny shrugged and let Tera pierce his ears twice on the same ear. Two-Bit shook his head, and Steve declined.

"Na, Darry might kill me," said Soda as she turned to him.

"I'll do it," I said, shocking myself.

"Pony," said Soda warningly, "Darry..."

"Well Soda Darry isn't Mom or Dad, so he doesn't have any right to tell me what to do anymore."

Tera shrugged and put the pin through my ear. It hurt for a second, then the pain faded. I looked in the mirror to see how it turned out. "You're right Dal, it does make me look tuff."

It was getting dark, so Steve walked home, and Johnny walked home with Two-Bit. Soda kept giving me looks like I might fall over and die at any second.

"What?" I asked, finally getting annoyed by it as I sat down on the couch with Dallas and Tera.

"Nothin, you just look different is all."

A clap of thunder met with lightning lit up the living room. "Oh crap," said Dallas, "We were gonna go to Buck's tonight."

"I guess you'll just need to stay here tonight," said Soda, tossing Tera a thick blanket.

At that moment Darry walked in, soaked to the bone and carrying something over a shoulder. I looked as he set the bundle down on the ground.

"Shit," said Tera softly, running over to the bundle.

"What?" I asked, trying to get a good look at the bundle.

"It's Logan," said Darry, "I found him on a street corner. He was pretty badly beat up and he passed out. He was asking for you Ter."

Tera wrapped the blanket around her brother. "He'll be fine," said Darry, dropping his coat on the floor, "He was just scared."

Tera nodded and helped Darry put him down on the armchair. "I guess we'll just have to wait until he wakes up," she said, sitting down on the couch.

I nodded and walked into the kitchen.

"Ponyboy, what is that on your ear?" Asked Darry, following me into our tiny kitchen.

"Umm, nothing. It's just a bug," I said, hoping my hair covered it.

He shrugged and I walked into the bedroom that me and Soda shared. "That was close Ponyboy," said Soda climbing into bed.

I nodded and climbed in next to him. Within moments I had been carried into blissful sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, I'll be gone for another week, and that's why I won't update for a while. Sorry, but I'm trying here! Enjoy this chapter!**

I awoke to an explosion of noise. I yelped and fell out of bed, wondering what time it was and who was making that noise. I quickly pulled on a tee shirt of Soda's and walked out into the living room.

Tera and her brother were standing a few feet away from each other yelling loudly.

"I didn't need your help!" Yelled Logan with an angry look in his eye.

Tera simply gave him a glare from her ice blue eyes, "Then go back to Mom! Go on, the door's right there!"

Dallas put a warning hand on Tera's shoulder, "Ter, its okay. And Logan, stop being such a smart ass kid. Your sister's been through Hell lately, and a little kindness on your part would be nice."

I was shocked to see Dallas defend anyone except himself for once. So was Soda, who simply sat there staring open mouthed at Dally.

"What?" He asked Soda angrily, giving him a look that could turn you to stone.

"Nothing," he said hurriedly and grabbed his DX shirt. "Pony, I've gotta go to work. Don't get into too much trouble ya hear?"

I nodded and he ruffled my hair as he walked out the door. Logan gave me an angry look and sat down on the couch with a 'humph'.

Dallas gave me a strange look, as if he was seeing me for the first time. "Come outside Pony," he said and opened the door.

I followed him out onto the porch in the early light. "Pony, I'm gonna need to ask you a favor," he said, lighting up a cigarette.

"Ya," I said nervously.

"Keep an eye on Ter's kid brother. The kid obviously hates me, and I don't know man, I've just got this weird feeling." He shuddered and flipped up the collar on his jacket, "Just keep an eye on him."

I nodded and Dally gave me a rare smile, "Thanks kid, I owe ya one." I shrugged and followed him back into the house.

"So," I said as Two-Bit and Johnny walked in the door. "What should we do today?"

Two-Bit walked into the kitchen and grabbed a plateful of eggs. "We could go to the movies," he yelled, walking back into the room.

Johnny shrugged, "But it'll be crowded on a Friday night."

"We could go to a party," said Dally, leaning forward in his chair.

"Don't you _always _go to parties?" Asked Tera with a cocky grin.

"Maybe," he said, snaking his arm around Tera's waist.

"Ugh, do you guys need to do something together _all the time?" _Asked Logan with a sneer.

Tera was about to say something very rude, I could see her mouth it, but Johnny stopped her.

"If you don't like the way they are you can leave," he said in a quiet voice.

Logan looked like he might hit Johnny, but he stood up and walked out the door.

"Wow, nice going Johnnycake," said Two-Bit, giving his a slap on the back as he sat down in front of the T.V.

I saw Dally motion for Tera to follow him outside out of the corner of my eye and I nudged Johnny. "Hey, Johnnycake, Two-Bit, get a load of this."

I tiptoed over to the window and looked out, the two of them looking out from behind me. We couldn't hear them, but I could tell Dallas was trying to do something that was hard for him. I could tell, every time he was trying to say something hard he'd fidget with his hands.

I finally saw him slide the ring off his finger and slip it onto Tera's middle finger on her right hand. I smiled to myself; that was how everyone on the East side showed they were going steady; a ring on your middle finger right hand.

Two-Bit let out a whistle, "Wow Johnny, you were right. They _do _love each other."

Johnny simply shrugged, "When you're the quiet one you notice things that other people don't."

"Hey," said Dally, surprising us from behind. "Can't a guy get any privacy around here?"

I felt Johnny jump and Two-Bit quiver a little bit, "So," said Two-Bit, regaining his confidence. "You two goin' steady now?"

They smiled at each other and sat down on the couch.

"Well, there's still a full day to kill," I said, "Who wants to play football?"

"We wouldn't have even teams," said Johnny in his quiet voice.

"I bet there's a party goin' on at Dingo's," said Tera.

"Ya, party!" Said Two-Bit with a huge grin, "Whose car are we gonna take?"

"I've still got Buck's T-Bird out front," said Dallas, standing up and tossing his cigarette on the floor.

I stamped out the small flame from his cigarette and nodded, "We'll pick up Soda and Steve too."

Dallas shrugged and opened the door and led us all out into the driveway where Buck's car was parked. We hopped in the car and put on our seat belts. I hate it when Dally drives; he almost ripped the transmission out of the car!

Anyway, we got to Dingo's and walked in. Sure enough, there was music playing loudly and the lights were turned down low. It was only about one o' clock, but people were dancing and having a good time.

Two-Bit saw a blonde and gave chase, and Steve spotted Evie. As usual Soda was swarmed by a bunch of girls wanting to dance with him. Tera walked over to the counter to get drinks and Johnny and I sat down at one of the booths.

"Uh oh," I heard Johnny mutter.

"What is it Johnnycake?" I asked, looking wildly around.

Johnny groaned and pointed to the door. In walked Sylvia, Dally's ex girlfriend. I hated that broad so much, and one time she tried to pick up Johnny, but Two-Bit stopped her and promised to break her jaw if she tried anything like that again.

Sylvia spotted us, and walked over, swinging her hips. "Hey," she said loudly, snapping her gum, "You all seen Dallas?"

We didn't plan to say anything, but at that moment Dallas walked over to where we were sitting. "Pony, Johnny, and..oh shit," he said as he spotted Sylvia.

"Hey doll," she said, draping herself around Dallas's arms, "Let's go dance."

Dally made a face at her when she wasn't looking but followed her onto the dance floor. "That girl's trouble," I said, clenching my teeth. "And I _know_ something bad is gonna go down. I can feel it."

We watched as Sylvia moved closer to Dally, and pretty soon they were making out. Johnny made a noise of disgust and I turned away. I was forced to look back when I heard a loud noise.

It was Tera, her eyes cold and expressionless. Actually Dally had made the noise upon seeing her. "Here," said Tera coldly, taking his ring off her finger and tossing it at him. She walked over to where me and Johnny were sitting and pulled out what looked like twenty bucks. She handed it to Johnny, whose eyes widened in shock. "You'll need to pay off the bet," she said and walked out of the diner.

**Tera's POV**

_I hate him. I love him. I hate him. I love him. _

Damn it Dally, how hard was it to NOT make out with Sylvia! I walked along the sidewalk, ignoring the rain that had begun to fall. I didn't notice the three dark shapes in front of me as I walked faster.

"Hey, hold it lady," said one of them in a voice I knew too well.

"Piss off Nathan," I said calmly.

"Ooh," said one of them. "I think she needs a lesson taught to her, what do you think boys?"

Nathan pulled out a gun and pressed it up against my rib cage, "Scream," he said in a cold voice.

"Fuck you," I said, spitting in his face.

Nathan smiled coldly and pulled the trigger. There was a loud crack of the gun and I felt blood gushing from my stomach. I knew my ribs were broken, and all I remember was a sharp pain in my head, then… Blackness.

**Dallas's POV**

Oh my God. I am a freaking idiot. Sylvia just came on me and then… I don't know. They guys were all giving me looks that clearly said, 'You're a jerk'.

"Come on," I said quietly, "Let's blow this joint."

I led the gang outside where it had started to rain. There was a sudden crack that sounded exactly like a gun, causing us to whip around. We turned just in time to see a blonde figure covered in blood fall to the ground.

We ran over to her to see what was up. I felt the breath catch in my throat as I saw who it was laying on the cold pavement. It was Tera. Her blonde hair was fanned out around her head and her ice blue eyes were shut.

I heard Two-Bit swear and Steve murmuring a prayer. Johnny stepped forwards as I held Tera's body in my arms. He put his fingers to her wrist.

"She's alive, but barely," he said, "She'll need to go to the hospital."

I nodded and picked her up, noting how little she weighed. Soda opened the door of the car and helped me ease her into the backseat. She moaned and turned over, her eyelids fluttering. "Dall?" She asked weakly.

"I'm here babe, its okay," I said, taking her cold hand in mine. She smiled and shut her eyes.

"Pony, stay in the back with her. Steve, you and Two-Bit take your car. Johnny and Soda, you ride with me."

I put the keys in the transmission and started the car. I could see Johnny from the corner of my eye clinging to the seat as if his life depended on it. Soda flipped on the radio as we sped down the highway towards the hospital.

_Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman, and maybe he won't find out what I know. You were the last good thing about this part of town. _

"Soda, shut it off," I said as we got out onto an exit, "It's making me feel worse then I already do."

**Ponyboy's POV**

I felt really bad for Dallas as we drove into the hospital. I mean, Sylvia came onto _him,_ and now Tera's been shot. Dallas stopped the car outside the hospital and opened the backseat, picking up Tera carefully. She was bleeding pretty badly, and her face was incredibly pale.

Johnny was the one who actually caught one of the doctors to get Tera looked at. "Dear God," said the doctor, "What happened to her?"

"I don't know," said Dallas, "We just heard gunshot and came out and she was lying on the ground."

The doctor let out a low whistle and took Tera from Dally's arms and put her on one of the rolling beds. A swarm of doctors wheeled her to one of the rooms and we followed.

"You'll need to leave," said the doctor we had talked to earlier.

"I'm staying," said Dallas, sitting down on a chair next to the bed they were placing her in.

"Sir, I'll need you to…"

"Listen," said Dallas, pulling out his switchblade, "I'm staying. Unless you want to end up on your own operating table you'll let me stay."

The doctor nodded and shooed the rest of us out of the room. We were forced to wait in the waiting room, and we got some funny looks from other people waiting. After all, you don't see a bunch of greasers in the hospital very often.

After about fifteen minutes Dally walked back into the waiting room. Soda actually jumped up, but Dally shook his head. "They kicked me out." He said simply, and lit up a cigarette.

After about an hour we were the only ones left in the waiting room. Two-Bit and Steve had fallen dead asleep, and Johnny was watching the sunset through the window. Soda was watching the end of Dally's cigarette smolder and I was simply sitting there.

A doctor walked in the room, the same one that had helped us earlier. Dallas immediately stood up and walked over to him. "Well," he said impatiently.

The doctor sighed and had a look on his face like 'Don't-shoot-the-messenger'. "Well boys, her rib cage was shattered, and the bullet almost punctured her lung. We removed the bullet and gave her some painkillers. We can now only hope that she'll heal. We'll need to keep her overnight, and then she can go home. When she's home she cannot participate in any strenuous activities. All right?"

"Meaning," said Johnny, his dark eyes large and worried.

The doctor sighed, "She can go home tomorrow, but she'll be on bed rest for about a week. That is _if _she makes it that long."

Dally looked like he might shatter the guy's jaw, but led me Soda and Johnny into he room without a word.

Tera was sitting up in bed, her eyes unfocused. She looked pale, and an IV was connected to her arm and was giving her body blood. "Ter," said Dallas softly.

She looked up at Dallas's face. "What?"

"I'm…. I'm sorry Ter. I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to hurt you." For the first time in a long time a single tear fell from Dally's ice blue eyes.

Tera gave him a forgiving smile, "Its okay Dal. I know. I was just a little mad."

I smiled and Johnny pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket. "Here Ter, I believe this is yours."

Tera smiled and gave Johnny a hug, wincing from the pain in her ribs.

"Who did this?" Asked Soda, pulling a chair up and sitting down.

Tera grimaced, "That damn Soc, Nathan. You think letting his Dad kill mine was enough, and beating me and my brother up. But no, he wants me dead now too."

"That's it," I said quietly, "We're callin' a war. Soc on Grease. It's time to finish this once and for all."

Dally gave me a strange look, "Good call kid."

"We better let you go," said Johnny, "We'll be back tomorrow. Don't get into too much trouble."

We walked out of the room but Tera grabbed my arm. "Pony, come here a minute."

Soda shrugged and I walked back into her room. "Hey, I've gotta ask you a favor."

I nodded and sat down on the chair Soda had occupied. "Can I borrow a pack of cigarettes?" I smiled and tossed her a pack. "Thanks Pony. You dig okay."

She gave me a hug and I left the room to where Soda and Dally were waiting. "Hey, where are Johnny and Two-Bit and Steve?"

"They took Steve's car home," said Soda, putting his arm around me and rumpling my hair.

"Let's go," said Dallas, "I hate hospitals."

We walked out and sat down in Buck's car. There was a pool of blood that had dried in the backseat of the car that I pointed out to Dallas. He simply insisted that he'd tell Buck he got into a fight.

I shrugged and let my mind wander. I wondered what Tera saw in Dallas. He wasn't handsome, but there was something about him that caused you to look twice. He had a savage kind of pride in his face, and a feeling of danger. I always thought that he couldn't love anyone, but I was obviously wrong because his ring wasn't on his finger anymore.

"Hey Pony, we're home."

I yawned and sat up, walking in a half stupor back to the house. Soda and Dallas told Darry what had happened and I walked into our bedroom. I pulled off my jeans and yanked on a pair of plaid PJ bottoms. I laid down on my bed and was asleep within seconds.


	9. Chapter 9

I'm really sorry this took so long! My computer died so I had to get another one, and then it didn't save so here is a very late chapter nine. Thanks for sticking with me!

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I woke up late the next morning. Cursing my forgetfulness I ran out into the kitchen clad in only a pair of cutoff plaid PJ bottoms. "Hey," I yelled, grabbing a plateful of eggs.

"Hey yourself," said a weak voice from the couch.

I ran into the living room where Tera was sitting propped up on the couch covered in bandages. "When'd you get in?" I asked, switching on the T.V.

"Oh, just about an hour ago," she said.

"What happened to Dallas?" I asked, turning the T.V from Mickey Mouse to some reality show.

"I'm right here," said a voice from the doorway.

"Cripes Dall, you scared me," I said.

"Sorry kid," he said, sitting down next to Tera.

"Where is everybody?" I asked, looking around the room.

"They're at a war council," said Dally coldly.

"A _what?"_ I said, turning around to face him.

"You heard me just fine kiddo. You said it yourself, Soc vs Grease, all out war. Soda and Two-Bit are in the meeting right now."

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "We're having a rumble tonight. Sadly Ter here won't be able to participate in it…"

Tera gave him an angry look and a punch in the ribs. "Oh, I'll be there. You can bet your life on it."

"Umm Ter, the doctor said you needed to be on bed rest for about a week," I said quietly.

Tera took Dally's cigarette and took a deep drag on it, "Ponyboy, I'm not sure you get it. My brother and I were beat up by the Socs. My Dad had his life ruined by them. My Mom left my Dad because of the Socs. If you think I'm not going to fight you're out of you freaking mind."

"But babe, you're rib cage was shattered. The bullet almost punctured a lung. No offence, but you're not in the best condition for a rumble…" Dallas broke off, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Listen," I said, "Tera, I know you want to fight, but you're in no condition…"

"You don't get it do you!" She yelled, standing up but doubling over in pain, "If you could do something about your fate, wouldn't you!"

Tera grabbed Dally's leather jacket and walked out the door, and we could hear her cursing the Socs the whole way.

"Umm, Dally, shouldn't we follow her?" I asked, grabbing a shirt off the floor and pulling it on over my head.

"Probably, seeing as her and trouble keep having run ins with one another."

I changed into a pair of jeans and walked outside with Dallas. We followed a trail of dotted blood until we reached the vacant lot where Johnny sometimes slept. Tera was sitting on the pavement, holding her side and swearing loudly.

"Ter, you need to take it easy," said Dallas, sitting down beside her.

"I'm gonna be in that rumble tonight," she said softly.

"Fine Ter, I'm not your father, but if you get in trouble, call any one of us and we'll bail you out of it."

I nodded fervently, "Tera, don't get killed okay?" I said with a wry grin.

She nodded and stood up, leaning on me and Dally for support. "Crap," I heard her murmur as we walked up to my house.

We helped her into the house and she immediately sank onto the couch, her face contorted with pain. Soda looked worried and walked into the kitchen to grab her an Tylenol.

"Thanks," she said, taking them form Soda.

"So," I said, sitting down, "What's the scoop about the rumble?"

Soda sat down and ran his hands through his silky blonde hair. "Well, skin on skin, no knives or chains. Tonight in the lot near the edge of town."

I heard Tera groan, "How am I gonna get there?"

"You're not going," said Steve, "You'll get yourself killed girlie."

"Don't call me girlie," said Tera coldly, "And I'm fighting weather you like it or not."

Steve simply shrugged and went back to arm wrestling Johnny. Johnny proceeded to beat him three to one. The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and it was around six o'clock. We were all getting ready for the rumble, Two-Bit enjoying a beer, and Darry changing into a tight fitting black tee shirt. Soda and Steve were busy yelling, and Dally was helping Tera change her bandages.

I handed Dally a roll of gauze for Tera. Tera was standing in the kitchen in a sports bra, shivering as we helped her remove the old bandage. There was a hole where the bullet had been and it was red around the wound.

"Here," said Dally, passing her a bottle of vodka, "Take a swig."

She grimaced and took the bottle. "Oh no Dal," I said quietly.

Dallas grimaced and poured the rest of the vodka on Tera's side. Tera went white and clenched her teeth so tight her lips turned white. After a few minutes she unclenched her teeth and the color started coming back into her face.

"I'm sorry babe," said Dally softly, kissing her cheek.

Tera grimaced and took the gauze from me and began wrapping it tightly around her side. I walked out of the kitchen, seeing as I was not needed anymore.

"Hey Ponyboy," said Darry, "If the fuzz show, you and Soda beat it outta there ya hear?"

I nodded and Soda jumped around the room, "Don't worry Darry, I'll get a little one."

"Remember, leave Nathan to me," said Tera, coming out of the kitchen with Dally and pulling a tee shirt on over her bandages.

"Tera I don't think," began Darry, but she cut him off.

"Darry, I'll be fine. Trust me, with you guys watching me, how can I get in any trouble?"

"She has a point Superman," said Two-Bit, turning off Mickey Mouse.

"All right," said Darry, "Let's get going."

We hopped into his old Ford and began driving to the edge of town. I pressed my head against the cool window, watching the scenery flash by.

Before I knew it we were there. Standing in the lot was a bunch of Greasers, probably Tim Shepard's gang. Sure enough, up walked Tim Shepard, looking fit as a fiddle. He walked up to Darry and shook his hand, signaling that they were on the same side.

"So Dall, this your girl?" He asked, walking around Tera with a smile.

Dallas pulled her closer to him and nodded, "But as usual she's a little banged up."

"Dirty dirty minded Dallas," said Tim with a laugh, "You haven't changed."

"No, I don't mean banged up _that_ way," said Dallas a little frantically.

Tera gave a laugh that was spoiled by her doubling over in pain again.

"No Tim, all I did was get shot. Nothing I can't handle."

"Uh huh," said Tim skeptically, "Oh well, it's not my neck on the line here."

I looked nervously around, waiting for the Socs to show up. I could see everyone tensing up, getting ready for the fight. I gulped and breathed in the night air. It was going to be a good rumble.

**Dallas's POV**

I felt Tera tense up as Tim walked away and a few cars pulled up into the lot. "Don't worry," I said softly into her ear. "It'll be okay. Anybody give you trouble you holler, savvy?"

Tera nodded and went back to counting how many Socs there were. "Hey," I said, turning to look at her. "You okay?"

"I'm _fine _Dal," she said softly, "I'm simply sizing up the enemy."

The Socs got out of their cars and walked towards us, smug grins on their faces. I felt Tera shudder beside me and I heard Ponyboy taking to Johnny in the dark. A breeze played over the ground, sending small clouds of dust into the air.

"Rules," said one of the Socs, stepping out from the shadows. "Skin on skin. No weapons. Dig?"

"Dig," said Darry softly.

It all started so quickly I didn't have enough time to turn around. I felt Tera move from my side and in a flash she had jumped on the Soc who had spoken to Darry. I heard somebody yell 'FIGHT' and it all began.

I jumped on the one closest to me, screaming and hollering. I was pushed down in the mud and slugged a couple of times and then a sharp pain pierced my side. I screamed and rolled over, where I could feel new bruises forming.

All of a sudden, the blows stopped. Startled I stood up, rubbing my side where I had been slugged the most. Nathan, the Soc who had beaten on Tera and her brother was standing up, holding Ponyboy.

A switchblade was us against his throat and I could hear him whimpering. I caught Soda in time to stop him lunging at Nathan.

"Listen greasers," said Nathan, "We give you the kid in place for someone else."

A figure stepped up from the dirt, blood dripping from one arm. "I'll go," said Tera, wiping the blood from her arm, and before I could say anything she had walked over to Nathan and released Ponyboy.

"Tera!" I screamed, letting go of Soda, "I…" But the Socs were already disappearing into their cars like a phantom from a nightmare. And in their place came flashing blue and cherry lights.

"Damn," I heard Two-Bit say, "We've gotta go."

"What about Tera?" I asked in a deathly quiet voice. This was my voice my, touch-me-and-you-die- voice.

"Dal," said Steve, "We've gotta get back before we can go all heroic and save her. You can't be boyfriend of the year in jail. I mean, look at you and Sylvia."

That was it, the final straw that broke my back. I landed a punch right in Steve's jaw and ran in the direction of the Soc's cars. Sweat mingled with blood dripped down my back, but I kept running.

Pretty soon I had found the house on the rich side of town that we had ambushed earlier. Trying to quiet down my beating heart I pushed open the door, afraid of what I might find inside.

The sight that met me almost brought me to my knees. Tera was lying on the floor, bare naked and bleeding. She looked unconscious and her blonde hair was fanned out around her body. I ran over to her, letting loose swearwords I didn't even know I knew.

"Dallas, is that you?" Asked a voice from the shadows.

I pulled out my switchblade, ready for the worst, but it was Ponyboy who stepped out of the shadows.

"Dallas, they…they..." He began sobbing uncontrollably, "They raped her Dallas. And…and… they….made me watch."

I felt bile rising up into my throat. "Pony," I said in an oddly calm voice, "Go back home and get the gang. I'll try and get Tera back myself. Go, before they get back."

Ponyboy ran, still sobbing out the door and into the night. I looked around the room and quickly spotted an oversized jacket and a blanket. I grabbed them and began wrapping Tera.

"Dallas," said a soft voice.

I looked down at Tera, her blue eyes cold with anger.

"It's okay Ter, it'll be okay."

She began sobbing, her body shaking. Tera, strong brave Tera was crying. She didn't cry when her father died, didn't cry when she was shot, but she cried now. I pressed her close to my body, trying to envelop her sobs in my body.

"Dallas, I… I didn't, I didn't…" She began sobbing again as I picked her up and carried her out of the house into the cold night air. Luckily for me Darry had driven up after me, the gang in tow.

"Shit," I heard Two-Bit say, and I could still hear Pony's sobs.

"Open the door," I said in a voice of deadly calm. Steve jumped out and opened it, still looking terrified that I would hit him.

Tera's sobs stopped as soon as we got into the car, as if she didn't want the guys to know what happened in there.

"So," she said in a shaky voice. "Pony told you."

They nodded as Darry drove us back to their house.

"I don't want pity," said Tera, as we helped her out of the car. Johnny shook his head as we walked her to the door, and pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks Johnnycake," she said, "I needed that."


	10. Chapter 10

**Ponyboy's POV **

The nightmares are what woke me up. They were worse then the ones that I couldn't remember. I wanted to forget what I saw, but I just couldn't.

I opened my eyes to see rain pouring down from outside my window. I checked the clock and stood up, shivering. I tiptoed into the kitchen only to find the whole gang minus Tera seated at the table.

"But why," asked Soda, passing around the plate of chocolate cake, "I mean, wasn't she happy?"

"Man, who knows," said Steve, "Girls are just really…"

"Strange," finished Two-Bit.

"Hey sleeping beauty," said Darry, "I gotta get to work now, don't get into too much trouble."

I sat down at the chair he had vacated. "What's going on?"

Dallas swore and punched the wall, putting a fist sized hole in it.

"Hey hood, don't go breaking my house!" Yelled Soda, standing up.

We all saw the flash in his eyes and Soda sat down quickly.

"She left," said Dallas, raw anger in his voice. He passed me a slip of paper.

_Hey guys. _

_I've gotta go get my life in order before I can do anything else. I want all of you to know I love you like family. If it hadn't been for you I never would have survived this past month. Dallas, I love you no matter what happens, Pepsi try to get a girl, Steve stop being such an ass, Two-bit well, where can I start, Johnny try and speak up and Ponyboy stay gold. Thank Darry for putting up with me hangin at your house. _

_If I'm ever around again I'll drop in,_

_Tera_

Taped to the note was Dallas's ring. "So that's it," I said, "Nothin else?"

Johnny shook his head, "She'll be back though."

"What," said Dallas softly.

"Trust me guys, she'll come back."

We left it at that. After all, Johnny had been right about them falling in love, he might be right about her return.

--THE END—

--OR IS IT?—

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First I'd like to thank my reviewers, or anyone who read this and said, WOW this girl is a freak. Thanks for sticking with me even after my computer crashed and I took forever to update the story. If you want a sequel, or anything PM me or e-mail me. Write on (get it, sry I'm a little strange)

Samantha


	11. Alternate Ending

**Author's Note: **Thank you all for reading this, and I was NOT happy with the ending that I wrote, so I changed it. I feel like I owe you guys a nice ending that doesn't suck.

CHEERS,

Sammy

**

* * *

Johnny's POV**

The sun wasn't quite up yet as I smoked a casual cigarette in front of the Curtis's house. I knew that soon the sun would rise and everyone would come piling out of the house, intent on nothing but causing trouble over the weekend.

I heard the door shut and I turned around, snubbing my cigarette out on the pavement.

"Hey Johnny," said Tera, dragging a small bag behind her.

"Hey Ter. What have you got there?"

Tear sighed and swept her hair out of her eyes. "I'm leaving Johnny."

The words took a moment to sink in. "L- Leaving?" I stuttered, "No, it's really okay, the Socs won't bother you anymore."

She rose up her hand to stop me. "I've made up my mind. I'm sorry Johnny, but this is something that I need to do."

"Dally won't wait for you," I said softly, "And this is gonna hit him hard."

"I know," said Tera, staring at me through red rimmed eyes. "Can you give the gang this letter for me?"

She passed me an envelope. "See you Johnny Cade," she said softly, walking over to me and giving me a hug. "Thanks' for taking me in when I got here."

She pulled away and picked up her bag. "I'll see you around." Tera turned and walked up the street towards the train tracks without turning around.

**Ponyboy's POV**

The nightmares are what woke me up. They were worse then the ones that I couldn't remember. I wanted to forget what I saw, but I just couldn't.

I opened my eyes to see rain pouring down from outside my window. I checked the clock and stood up, shivering. I tiptoed into the kitchen only to find the whole gang minus Tera seated at the table.

"But why," asked Soda, passing around the plate of chocolate cake, "I mean, wasn't she happy?"

"Man, who knows," said Steve, "Girls are just really…"

"Strange," finished Two-Bit.

"Hey sleeping beauty," said Darry, "I gotta get to work now, don't get into too much trouble."

I sat down at the chair he had vacated. "What's going on?"

Dallas swore and punched the wall, putting a fist sized hole in it.

"Hey hood, don't go breaking my house!" Yelled Soda, standing up.

"She left," said Dallas, raw anger in his voice. "Tera. This morning."

Looking closer I saw that his eyes were red rimmed and his ring was back on his finger. I picked up the letter that was sitting on the table.

_Hey guys. Wow, how about that? I wanted to let you know that I'm going to miss you all, your crazy house, the chocolate cake at three in the morning and the breaking into schools. I want you to know that I didn't want to leave, but this was just something that I had to do. I need to get my life in order away from the hustle and bustle of Tulsa. Dallas, I won't forget you, even though you might forget me. Steve, try and lighten up a little bit. Two-Bit, you really need to stop picking up random girls and getting into fights. Pepsi, try and settle down. Johnny, thanks for giving them this letter, and don't forget the sunrises. Ponyboy, I'm really sorry about what happened, but you'll be okay. Darry, thanks for letting me stay in your house all this time. I love you all, and if I ever find myself in Oklahoma I'll drop in._

_Tera_

"So that's it," I said, "Nothin else?"

Johnny nodded, "She'll be back though."

"What," said Dallas softly.

"Trust me guys, she'll come back."

We left it at that. After all, Johnny had been right about them falling in love, he might be right about her return.


End file.
